Dubai firm to operate Serbian port

A Public-Private Partnership (PPP), agreement was signed by P&O Ports and the Serbian government to operate the port of Novi Sad, Serbia, as part of a long-term investment plan to upgrade equipment and services.

The agreement will also support the Serbian government’s strategy to create an inter-modal terminal and logistics centre with rail, road and inland waterways links to the rest of Europe.

P&O Ports is wholly owned by the Government of Dubai and is a subsidiary of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, PCFC.

P&O Ports will operate Novi Sad port for an initial 25 years with an option for both parties to renew the agreement for another 25 years. The SPA was signed on Friday by Dragan Stevanovic, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, and P&O Ports Chief Executive Officer, Rado Antolovic, following a Memorandum of Understanding signed last year by Deputy Prime Minister, Zorana Mihajlovic, and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of P&O Ports.

The port is situated on a 24-hectare site alongside the Danube River and is operated by the last remaining port operator in the country owned and operated by the government with an estimated throughput of around one million tonnes a year.

The UAE company will retain exclusive rights to undertake all waterside operations, container handling, project cargo, and fertiliser activities. The current quay is 500 metres long and includes cargo handling, warehousing facilities, storage of bulk cargo and general cargo connections to the national railway network.

The construction of a new 189-metre vertical quay wall, new silo capacities, new handling equipment and refurbishment of existing machinery, plus the installation of a terminal operating system will be part of the development plan. New container terminals could also be considered in partnership with the Serbian Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure.

Last month, President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia has opened the textile factory ‘Armis Luss Protect’ textile factory in the Raska District. The factory was funded by the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation. The opening ceremony was attended by the UAE Ambassador to Serbia Mubarak Saeed Ahmed Barasheed Al Dhaheri.

The Serbian president thanked the UAE and the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation for their assistance and financial support to build the plant, which will benefit Raska District and its residents.

WAM