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Weekly Lists
January 12, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 21
bne:
Infrastructure
Hungary prefers Chinese option for Budapest-Belgrade railway
In the absence of comparable European funds, Chinese funds are the best option for the construction of the Budapest-Belgrade rail- way line, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on January 11.
China's Exim Bank is offering an 18-year maturity dollar loan with a 2.5% interest rate, he said, adding that there is no comparable credit option for infrastructure projects that could compete with that offer.
Szijjarto would not comment on the overall construction costs, which is estimated to be $3bn. The cabinet’s goal is to have much Chinese merchandise pass through the country to Western markets as possible.
The first round of the tender for Hungary’s largest infrastructure project was kicked off in November, timed for the China-CEE “16+1” summit held in Budapest. It involves the upgrade of the 152km railway line stretching between south of Budapest and the Hungari- an-Serbian border to allow speeds trains to reach 160 km/h.
Hungary became the first European nation to formally agree to China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative in 2015, one center- piece of which is the planned 350km high-speed Chinese-funded railway connecting Budapest to Belgrade. The $3bn investment is set to be the first part of a much larger rail route linking the Chinese-run Greek port of Piraeus with Europe’s heartland.
The viability of the project in financial terms has been questioned by economist and opposition parties alike. Opponents say the project will never recoup its costs.
The 25-year concession of state-controlled Aerodrom Nikola Tesla (ANT) will significantly speed up the development of Serbia's largest airport, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic said on January 9 during a visit to ANT near Belgrade.
France’s Vinci Airports was announced as the winner of the conces- sion at the beginning of this year. The French company was picked from among 27 bidders to handle the financing, development through the construction and reconstruction, maintenance and management of ANT’s infrastructure, as well as operating the airport.
Mihajlovic announced during her visit to the airport that the conces- sion contract will bring €501mn of revenues to the government and small shareholders as well as €732mn of new investments to the airport itself.
Vinci wins Belgrade airport concession