The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras, met on Saturday afternoon with the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia, Goran Vesic. At the heart of the meeting were matters concerning cooperation in transport, the implementation of large infrastructure projects that will connect the two countries and the participation of Greek companies in the development of infrastructure in Serbia in view of the World Exhibition EXPO 2027 to be held in Belgrade.

The Greek minister pointed out that “the railway connection of the port of Piraeus and Thessaloniki with Skopje and Belgrade is a very important project for regional connectivity and transport”. At the meeting of the two ministers, it was agreed to speed up the procedures for the coordination of the electronic toll collection system so that by the summer the same electronic devices can be used in both countries for the passage of vehicles at the toll gates. “We have already instructed the relevant bodies to complete the preliminary procedures that include cost-effectiveness studies and to deal with the technical, administrative and legal aspects of implementing the integrated electronic toll collection system,” said Mr. Staikouras after the meeting.

Serbian Minister Goran Vesic said he was particularly satisfied with the talks he had with Mr. Staikoura, pointing out that “Greece is the most important friend that Serbia has in Europe.” Vesic stated that the world exhibition EXPO 2027 will be a great opportunity to promote not only Serbia but also all the countries that will participate and stressed that Greece will have a prominent position in this exhibition.

It is noted that in the next three years, Serbia plans to spend more than 10 billion euros for the organization of EXPO 2027. The exhibition space will be built from the ground up in the new Belgrade, while hotels and guesthouses will be built around it to accommodate exhibitors and visitors. A national stadium with a capacity of 60,000 spectators will be built in the same area, while the program also includes the completion of the first metro line that will connect the old city with the exhibition area.

Ministers Christos Staikouras and Goran Vesic visited and were guided to the “Neboisa” tower, the place of martyrdom of Rigas Feraios, which today functions as a museum-exhibition space dedicated to the struggles of Greeks and Serbs to throw off the Ottoman yoke. The restoration of the “Neboisa” tower was done with funds from the Hellenic Parliament.

The two ministers will travel by rail today to the town of Novi Sad in Vojvodina, traveling on the high-speed Soko.