The President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, met today with the delegation of the company Shandong Hi-Speed Group, and after the meeting, he attended the signing of the Commercial Agreement on the design and execution of works on the construction of the state IB class road, section of highway E-75 Belgrade-Nis (Pozarevac loop) - Požarevac (bypass) - Veliko Gradiste - Golubac.

President Vučić pointed out that the contract was signed after many months of drafting the conceptual design and fighting for the lowest possible cost of building a road that is almost 70 kilometers long. He stated that the value of the works is 337 million euros, and that the works will be completed in November 2024.

"In three years, we will travel from Belgrade to Gradiste in an hour, to Golubac in an hour and 15 minutes. I don't think anyone dreamed of that. We connect Serbia with the most beautiful part of the Danube and one of the most beautiful parts of the country, with the wonderful people in the east, which we have neglected not only for 80 years, but for more than a century", said President Vučić, pointing out that the offer of the Chinese company was 337 million euros, and the first next as much as 407 million euros, and thanked the Chinese partners for a good and fair offer. He specified that the road will not lead along the bank of the Danube, but that the road from Veliko Gradiste to Golubac will be shortened, and at the same time will go through some places that have been forgotten and where few people have remained to live.

"With this, we are building the future for the area around Pozarevac, the entire Branicevo, but also Bor District. With this, we give them a guarantee for the future, so that we can bring investors, and raise all tourist capacities", stated President Vučić and added that by not going along the Danube, the environment is protected. He thanked the Chinese partners, the country's ambassador to Serbia, Chen Bo, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping, for all their support so far.

"We do not hide our friendly relationship with China, we are proud of that and we want to continue to develop our country, as well as our bilateral relations", said President Vučić.

Deputy director of the Chinese company Xin Meng said that he was honored to work on the project of building a high-speed route section on the Danube highway.

"I promise that our company will continue with its professional attitude towards work, that it will use technical advantages and thus contribute to strengthening the infrastructure in Serbia", said Xin Meng and reminded that in 2019 the company successfully completed the Obrenovac-Ljig section on the "Milos Veliki" highway, and that last year, works on the high-speed route section Valjevo - Lajkovac started.

The Ambassador of the PR of China to Serbia, Chen Bo, congratulated on the signing of the agreement and pointed out that it was a new important result of the cooperation between the two countries in the field of infrastructure. She thanked President Vučić for paying great attention to the cooperation between China and Serbia, and added that even in difficult pandemic conditions, the two countries are committed to economic development.