At the sitting held on 12 December, the Committee on Transportation and Communications discussed the Republic of Serbia 2009 Budget Bill focusing on the positions concerning the Ministries of Infrastructure and Telecommunications and Information Society. The sitting was chaired by Velimir Ilic.

Elaborating the Budget Bill, the Minister of Infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjic said that the budget plans about 16.4 billion dinars for the road and railroad network, with additional 1.5 billion euros from the loans from international organisations and the World Bank.

Minister Mrkonjic stressed that the construction of Corridor 10 is still a Government priority, adding that 120 billion dinars have been secured for it, while about five billion dinars have been allocated to the National Investment Plan through the Ministry. He estimated that the construction of Corridor 10 should be sped up and completed in the next two and a half years because of the risk that international transit might be rerouted via Romania and Bulgaria which would put Serbia at a loss.

The Minister said that, next year, work must commence on the construction of the Belgrade bypass section from Dobanovci to Batajnica, as well as, the highway sections from Dimitrovgrad towards Presevo and Bujanovac and from Novi Sad to Horgos, and the magistral line section towards the Adriatic, from Belgrade to Cacak.

Minister Mrkonjic also talked about the importance of reconstructing the railroad infrastructure and announced the completion of the work on the railway junction Prokop in Belgrade, as well as the reconstruction of the railroad from Nis to Dimitrovgrad.

The Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society, Jasna Matic said that she is not satisfied with the planned means for the Ministry, and due to it no new projects will be proposed for the coming year. She pointed out that laws from the field of information and telecommunications will have priority in 2009. One of the main tasks will be drafting a strategy of digitalisation of the television signal, aiming to become harmonised with European standards in the field by 2015.

The Committee members endorsed the 2009 Budget Bill with some objections and suggestions. In the discussion, it was estimated that currently two ministries deal with the construction of roads, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, which is not good. In addition to the listed priorities, it was also suggested to secure budgetary means for the reconstruction of some roads of local significance.