On 23 January, the Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia, Dubravka Đedović, the Director of the German Development Bank (KfW) office in Belgrade, Rüdiger Hartmann, the Minister of European Integration Tanja Miščević and the Director of “Elektromreža Srbije” Jelena Matejić signed an €8.9 million investment for the implementation of the 84-km section of the Trans-Balkan Electricity Corridor in Serbia.

The EU has contributed to the project with a WBIF grant of €11 million, complemented by a KfW loan of €30 million.

The section involves the construction of a 400-kV interconnecting transmission line from the Bajina Bašta substation to the borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

The start of works is scheduled in early 2025 – after the construction on the third section connecting Obrenovac to Bajina Bašta has started, – and completion can be expected in 2027. One hundred twenty kilometres of the Trans-Balkan Corridor on Serbian territory have already been built, from Pančevo to the border with Romania and from Kragujevac to Kraljevo.

The Trans-Balkan Electricity Corridor is part of the EU €1 billion Energy Support Package for the Western Balkans, launched by President von der Leyen on 6 December on the occasion of the EU-Western Balkans Summit.