Serbian government representatives and the European Union on March 22 in Novi Sad signed an agreement on the use of EUR70.5 million from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA 2009) worth over €70 million which will complement the 100 million already received in 2009 for budget support.

The agreement, under which nine projects will be financed, was signed by Deputy Prime Minister for European Integrations Bozidar Djelic and European Union Delegation in Serbia head Vincent Degert.

The largest share of the money is intended for the reconstruction of the Zezeljev bridge in Novi Sad, support to the development of the Office for the Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property, the implementation of a national cervical and breast cancer prevention and detection program and the eradication of classic swine fever and rabies.

Djelic said that those projects would ensure that Serbian citizens had a European future and that the most important of the projects was the construction of a road/rail bridge in place of the former Zezeljev bridge which was destroyed during the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999.

"Doing so, we are building the future of Novi Sad, Vojvodina and Serbia because we are building a key railway corridor which will soon become the main European corridor because Turkey is completing the construction of an underground tunnel in the Bosphorus," said Djelic.

He announced that it would very soon be known which projects would be financed by pre-accession funds in 2010, noting that Serbia would over the next two years also strive for the financing of at least one capital infrastructure project.

The construction of the new Zezeljev bridge will cost EUR60 million. Half of the money has been secured by the EU, EUR20 million by the Province of Vojvodina and EUR10 million by the City of Novi Sad.

"The European Union with this package shows its continuous support for Serbia's European integration. Serbia's has achieved a major progress in 2009 which we will further assist with this package to complement the 100 million euros allocated to budget support. The 70.5 M euros cover four big areas of contribution. Firstly, we will continue supporting Serbia with projects related to infrastructure by connecting the country to the EU; secondly, we will concentrate on improving the quality of life of Serbian citizens through securing better health, education, food safety and environment; thirdly we will assist the country in efforts for establishing a well functioning rule of law and last and not least we will help to reinforce the civil, as it is essential for democracy.” Ambassador Degert said announcing the signing of the Financing Agreement

The assistance package foresees support for projects bringing direct benefit to Serbian citizens and helping continuation of political and economic reforms necessary for Serbia's progress in the European integration.

Projects include the reconstruction of the Žeželj Bridge in Novi Sad, support to the strengthening of the capacities of the Directorate for Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property, implementation of the National Screening Programme for the prevention of cervical and breast cancer, as well as for the eradication of swine fever and rabies in Serbia.