Minister for the National Investment Plan (NIP) Verica Kalanovic announced today that the Ministry will by the end of January make a decision which infrastructure projects to finance this year.

Kalanovic specified that the total value of proposed projects is more than RSD 115 billion, adding that the state has no money to fund them all by itself.

Out of about 2,000 projects submitted for funding in 2011, the Ministry will choose the ones of highest priority and will submit a proposal to the government this month, said the Minister.

She said that the infrastructure projects were proposed by municipalities, ministries and the province of Vojvodina, and specified that 20% should be funded by local governments, while more than RSD 92 billion will be requested from the relevant ministry.

She stressed that the Ministry of NIP will directly from the state budget draw RSD 7.1 billion and explained that this money will cover projects throughout Serbia.

The Minister also announced that construction works on Corridor 10 should be accelerated and expressed hope that this year will see completion of the motorhway from Horgos to Belgrade.

Serbia does not have enough money to finish all major infrastructure projects, she repeated and said that the model worked out with Chinese partners to build a bridge across the Danube from Zemun to Borca is good because it means soft loans with low interest rates and a long repayment period.