Inland Waterways in Serbia

- How the Danube within Serbia is being integrated into a major sustainable waterway and to deal with issues of reconciliation following the Balkans conflict

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Zaneta Ostojic Barjaktarevic Director General of Directorate for Inland Waterways Plovput

Presentation of the Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Istanbul, March 2009 Republic of Serbia

Facts on the Danube River Did you know?

Role of Danube Commission Role of Serbian Directorate for Inland Waterways Plovput Balkans Conflict and the NATO Bombing of Serbia Danube Revival Challenges for the Future Content Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

Facts on the Danube River The second largest river in Europe – 2,845 km Drainage area of almost 801,500 km 2 Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Facts on the Danube River Navigable for 85% of its length (from City of Kelheim in Germany to Sulina in Romania) Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Facts on the Danube River Linked to the River Rhine through Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, connecting the North Sea with the Black Sea The Danube River is known as Corridor VII – the only waterway among ten Pan European corridors Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Facts on the Danube River The only river in the world connecting four capitals: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade European Commission recognizes the Danube River as a “single most important non-oceanic body of water in Europe ”, and a “future central axes for the European Union ” Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Did you know?

Archeological site Lepenski Vir is located on the Danube River in Serbia It originates from 5,300 years B.C.

Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Did you know?

Archeological site Viminacium is located on the Danube River in Serbia It is a Roman fortress that originates from 1 st century B.C.

Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Did you know?

Tabula Traiana is a living proof of an old Roman road Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Did you know?

Iron Gate gorge is the deepest part of the Danube River over 100m Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Did you know?

Kalemegdan fortress in Belgrade originating from 3 rd century B.C.

Republic of Serbia

The Role of Danube Commission • Convention regarding the regime of navigation on the Danube River signed in Belgrade in 1948 • Belgrade Convention is providing free navigation on the Danube River • Danube Commission is a governing body of the countries that are located on the Danube River banks, in the field of navigation • Countries are required to maintain their sections of the river and to provide navigable conditions Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

The Role of Serbian Directorate for Inland Waterways Plovput • established in 1963 • in charge of international inland waterways in Serbia • performing hydrographic survey, waterway design, waterway marking, river training works and river information services Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

• during the 1990’s navigation on the Danube River was influenced by the Balkans conflict • Serbia was under the embargo of UN (1992-1995) • During that time transport was drastically reduced • After sanctions were lifted, waterborne transport began to increase for a new several years •And then the 1999 came Directorate for Inland Waterways Balkans Conflict in 1990s Republic of Serbia

NATO Bombing of Serbia (1999) Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways NATO Bombing of Serbia (1999) Bridges on the Danube River destroyed during NATO bombing of Serbia Republic of Serbia

NATO Bombing of Serbia (1999) Bridges in the City of Novi Sad before 1999 Directorate for Inland Waterways All three of them destroyed Republic of Serbia

Danube Revival • immediate solution was a pontoon bridge (1999) which is removed in 2005, when one of the destroyed bridges was reconstructed Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

Danube Revival • first temporary road-railroad bridge in Novi Sad built in 2000 and is still in use • after the clearance of bridges’ debris and the removal of the pontoon bridge in 2005, the waterborne transport on the Danube River is beginning to recover Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

Danube Revival •Master plan for inland waterways in Serbia was prepared in 2006 (funded by European Agency for Reconstruction) • prioritized projects defined: • Construction of a New Zezelj bridge in Novi Sad • Removal of UXOs from NATO bombing • Removal of sunken German fleet from WW2 • Implementation of River information services • Rehabilitation of navigation locks on the Iron Gate • River training works on critical sections on the Danube River Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

Project 1: Construction of a New Zezelj bridge in Novi Sad Danube Revival Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

Project 2: Removal of UXOs from NATO bombing Danube Revival Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Danube Revival Project 3: Removal of sunken German fleet from WW2 Republic of Serbia

Danube Revival Project 4: Implementation of River Information Services (RIS) 2008 2011 Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

EU has recognized results of Serbia and supported them Full Scale Implementation of RIS in Serbia, worth 11 Million Euro, among prioritized projects To be implemented from 2009 to 2011 Directorate for Inland Waterways Danube Revival Financial agreement between EU and Serbia signed in April 2008 Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Danube Revival Project 5: Rehabilitation of navigation locks on the Iron Gate Republic of Serbia

Danube Revival Project 6: River training works on the critical sections on the Danube River Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

The goal is to achieve standardized level of navigation safety and harmonized services on the Danube River and to become fully integrated part of European IWW network Directorate for Inland Waterways Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Challenges for the Future Improving cross-border cooperation in the region Applying European standards in IWT Promoting inland waterway transportation Republic of Serbia

Thank You for Your Attention

Presentation of the Republic of Serbia

Directorate for Inland Waterways Istanbul, March 2009 Republic of Serbia