Vucic Opens 28 Kilometers of Danube Corridor
The president opened sections two and three of the Danube Corridor on Sunday. Of the 68 kilometer route, six kilometers remain unbuilt, and sources disagree on the completion deadline.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attended a ceremony on Sunday, August 30, marking the opening of sections two and three of the Danube Corridor, a combined 28 kilometers. The ceremony began at 10 a.m., and according to the Serbian Presidency, journalists were gathering in Pozarevac, with a media accreditation deadline set for 8 p.m. the previous evening.
The opening came a day after the launch of a humanoid robot factory in Sabac, which Vucic had announced by saying: “On August 29 we open the robot factory in Sabac, and on the 30th we put the Danube Corridor into service.”
Six kilometers left to go
The Danube Corridor is a 68 kilometer expressway running from the Pozarevac interchange on the Belgrade to Nis highway, past bypasses around Pozarevac and Veliko Gradiste, to Golubac. Before Sunday’s opening, 34 kilometers were already in use: 32 kilometers opened in February 2025, and the first two kilometers on August 20 this year, with a new bridge over the railway near Mala Krsna. After sections two and three opened, six kilometers remain under construction.
The road is designed for a speed of 100 kilometers per hour. The route includes:
- 62 structures
- six interchanges
- 16 roundabouts
The full project is valued at 524 million euros, financed from Serbia’s budget and loans from domestic banks. The works are carried out by the Chinese company China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group, part of the Shandong Hi-Speed group.
“Imagine the trip from Belgrade to Golubac taking an hour and 15 minutes,” Vucic said at the ceremony. Earlier official announcements had cited a drive of an hour and 20 minutes, making the president’s Sunday estimate shorter than what had previously been reported.
Bela Crkva, not Ram Fortress
The president also announced construction of a new bridge over the Danube, at Bela Crkva rather than at Ram Fortress, as parts of earlier reporting could have suggested. Ram Fortress was mentioned only as a tourist destination that will become easier to reach thanks to the new road, alongside Golubac Fortress and Kladovo.
We are thinking of building a bridge to connect Bela Crkva, where the Danube is at its widest, and building an expressway to Vrsac, which would link it with Banat. This project fundamentally changes life in this area, and it matters both for the people who live here and for those who come to visit.
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Aleksandra Sofronijevic also addressed the road, noting that Serbia is working to cover the entire country with corridors and that better roads can bring more tourists.
There are the Golubac and Ram fortresses, Kladovo, Turija, the whole Negotin region, Negotin, Knjazevac, these are all gems of our Serbia.
She added that eastern Serbia had been neglected for decades and that, alongside economic development, a rise in tourist numbers is now expected.
Deadlines diverge
Sources disagree on when the remaining six kilometers will be finished. The B92 news portal quoted Vucic as saying everything, except for a small stretch near Pozarevac, would be done by October. The Danas newspaper, however, ran a headline citing the president’s announcement that the road would be fully completed only by November.
During his tour of eastern Serbia, Vucic also said that 187 kilometers of highways and expressways built by the Koridori Srbije company had opened between November 2024 and now, with another 25 kilometers built by the state owned Putevi Srbije, for a total of 213 kilometers in under two years. He also announced the continuation of the route from Golubac toward Majdanpek, Negotin and Kladovo, which he said would connect the entire northern part of Branicevo District with three municipalities in Bor District.
