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Weekly Lists
June 9, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 25
bne:
Infrastructure
Talks on modernisation of Budapest-Piraeus railway to start soon
NIB loans €30mn for Lithuanian airport upgrades
Serbia, China and Hungary have agreed to start talks with Mac- edonia and Greece on the modernisation of the railway transport corridor which runs from Budapest to the Greek port of Piraeus as soon as possible, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic an- nounced on June 7.
Beijing’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) strategy aims to create a fast lane for importing and exporting products between China and Eu- rope. The Balkans is part of the Maritime Silk Road, which along- side the overland New Silk Road makes up OBOR, as it is on the transit route between the Greek port of Piraeus, recently taken over by China’s Cosco, and Central Europe.
The Nordic Investment Bank has loaned €29.6mn to state-owned airport infrastructure manager Lithuanian Airports to co-finance upgrades at the Baltic state's airports in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Palanga, the NIB said on June 6.
The loan will support Lithuanian Airports’ investment programme that is aimed at improving flight safety and aviation security, in- creasing service capacity and reducing the environmental impact of the airports.
Works on the first section of the Belgrade-Budapest speed railway through Serbia are due to start in November, the Serbian govern- ment announced in June 5 statement.
The 350km rail link is expected to cut travel time between Buda- pest and Belgrade by more than half, from the current eight hours to less than three. The project is part of Beijing’s aim to create a fast lane for importing and exporting products between China and Europe. The Balkans is a key part of this corridor, as it is on the transit route between the Greek port of Piraeus, recently taken over by China’s Cosco, and Central Europe.
The route will run 184km across Serbia and 166km across Hungary and passenger trains will travel at 160km per hour.
Work on first Serbian section of Belgrade- Budapest railway to start in November