Serbian Construction and Infrastructure Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said on Monday that a contract to build a highway between Nis and Pristina would be signed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) later this week, TV N1 reports.

She said that the contract to build the highway between Nis (via Merdare crossing) and Pristina would be signed on Thursday in Belgrade during the visit of European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc who will open the offices of the Transport Community in Serbia on Friday.

Mihajlovic added the financial contract would be worth 100 million Euros and would be signed with an investment grant contract worth 40.6 million Euros for the first section of the highway whose construction is due to start next year.

TV N1 recalled that Mihajlovic also announced the start of the construction of the Nis-Pristina highway in 2017, saying it would start in 2018 and be completed by 2020. The construction of the first section of the highway will cost an estimated 212 million Euros which are to be secured by the Serbian Government, EIB and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).