Vučić: In two and a half years - the entire corridor will be finished PHOTO/VIDEO

Vučić: In two and a half years - the entire corridor will be finished PHOTO/VIDEO

At the beginning, Vučić expressed that he thought that there had never been so many bridges under construction in Novi Sad.

"In exactly two and a half years, we will have all 47.7 kilometers of the Fruškogorsk Corridor completed. I don't think there have ever been so many bridges being built in Novi Sad," he said.

"Next year we will have to start designing the extension of the road Belgrade - Novi Sad", Vučić said, adding that for the first time in many decades, Vojvodina, the north of Serbia, is getting the most roads and announced further investments.

Construction Minister Goran Vesić said that the project is being implemented ahead of the agreed deadline. He added that from Zrenjanin to Loznica, when all the planned highways and expressways are completed, it will take only 88 minutes. "Zrenjanin-Loznica in an hour and a half? That's not normal," he was impressed.

He informed that June 2026 is the deadline for the completion of works on this project. "Everything must be completed by December 1, 2026, December 1 is D-Day, there are so many projects that must be completed by then," said Vučić.

This year, by the end of June, all collapsed buildings along the road will either be demolished or renovated. And next to the highway and next to the railways, he stated. "Everything has to be cleaned up. Serbia must have the cleanest face. You will get help," he said. He said that 167 kilometers of highways and expressways will be completed this year.

"This year, 167 kilometers of highways and expressways should be completed, and the construction of 642 kilometers is underway, soon a large company will arrive in Leskovac, which will be an extraordinary incentive for high-quality technological investments," announced Vučić.

Address and media questions

During his address, Vučić said that the important thing is that in May/June 2025, the average salary in Serbia will be 1,000 euros.

He pointed out that now is the time for many things that need to be done until 2027, when the Expo will be held in our country. "So, in the middle of 2025, in May or June, the average salary in Serbia will be 1,000 euros. I believe that this is something that generations have dreamed of, that we will succeed in this, that inflation will be lowered to the level of three percent, that we will also further lower the deficit, which is now 2.2-2.3 percent and much lower than predicted. So, I am very satisfied with that," he said.

"This year alone, two billion euros worth of highways and expressways will be completed. Neither much richer nor much more powerful countries than our Serbia can boast of that," he concluded.

This will be the longest tunnel in Serbia

The Iriški venac tunnel will connect Novi Sad and Ruma and is the most demanding point of the Fruška Gora corridor. After the completion of the works, this tunnel will be the longest in Serbia, as much as 3.5 kilometers long.

Since it consists of two pipes, it means that the Chinese company CRBC, which is engaged in this project, will drill a total of seven kilometers of tunnels through Fruška Gora. Construction of the tunnel officially began on May 1, 2021, and CRBC workers for nearly a year and a half battled the terrain on the north portal of the tunnel, consolidating the surrounding slopes, to begin drilling the tunnel with hydraulic drills in the fall of 2022, since the use of dynamite in the national park is forbidden.

According to the conceptual project done by the Institute for Roads in 2016, the width of the roadway is planned to be eight meters with two traffic lanes in each direction. There are also safety niches every 150 meters and pedestrian crossings every 290 meters through which it will be possible to pass in case of fire, traffic accidents and other unforeseen situations.

For vehicles and trucks, it is planned to build two connecting tunnels through which they will be able to pass if they break down, and everything is designed in accordance with the German safety standard RAPT.

The construction of a control center that will monitor traffic in the tunnel under Iriški venac, but also in the 350-meter-long Širine tunnel, which will be located above Teki in Petrovaradin, is also planned.

The monitoring system should also monitor the level of pollution. The Fruška Gora Corridor itself is worth 606 million euros and is planned as a high-speed road with two traffic lanes in each direction. It is 47.7 kilometers long.

In November, slightly more than 30 percent of the works were completed, which means, as the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesić said at the time, that according to the predicted dynamics, the works will be finished by 2026, and the entire corridor will be connected to Novi Sad, including the bridge near Petrovaradin.