Minister for the National Investment Plan (NIP) Verica Kalanovic said  that all post global economic crisis development models for Serbia make infrastructure development a priority and a necessity for quicker growth.

In a statement to Tanjug news agency from the Kopaonik Business Forum 2010 Kalanovic said that from this year on only infrastructure projects will be financed with NIP funds and no financing will be provided for maintenance costs, equipment, consulting, subsidies and soft loans.

Compared to 2009, the number of NIP projects has been reduced and procedures almost identical to World Bank procedures are being followed, said Kalanovic.

She said that this year around RSD 26 billion will be at the NIP’s disposal, of which sum RSD 15.5 billion is from the budget and RSD 10 billion from the European Investment Bank’s project loan.

Kalanovic stressed that a new model for project realisation and management is needed, namely one that implies partial management modernisation at the central level, through the work of ministries and the transformation of certain institutions.

The Minister said that the realisation of projects in Serbia is still slow, even though progress was achieved both in 2009 and 2010. She also emphasised that the government goal is to create preconditions to enable project realisation over a few months, starting from the day when the funds are approved.