Serbia Signs Agreement With Azerbaijan on Financing of Highway

Serbia and Azerbaijan signed a cooperation agreement that opens way for Azeri financing of part of a planned highway between Serbia’s capital Belgrade and Montenegro on the Adriatic coast.

The agreement “opens the possibility of financing for the Corridor 11’s section between Ljig and Preljine, under very convenient terms,” the Economy Ministry said in an e-mailed statement today, without elaborating.

The initial, 39-kilometer (24 miles) section may cost 242 million euros ($314 million) to build, according to estimates by Koridori Srbije, the state-run manager of Serbia’s highway projects.

Construction may start by the end of the first quarter “if all goes according to plan” Economy Minister Nebojsa Ciric said after he and the director of Koridori Srbije, Mihajlo Misic, negotiated the agreement in Baku with Shahin Mustafayev, Azerbaijan’s minister for economic development, according to the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Misha Savic in Belgrade at msavic2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net