How the Danube within Serbia is being integrated into a major sustainable waterway and to deal with

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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 -
Zaneta Ostojic BarjaktarevicDirector General of
Directorate for Inland Waterways Plovput
Presentationof the Republic of Serbia
Istanbul, March 2009
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Content
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
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Facts on the Danube River
The second largest river in Europe 2,845
km Drainage area of almost 801,500 km2
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Facts on the Danube River
Navigable for 85 of its length (from City of
Kelheim in Germany to Sulina in Romania)
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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
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Facts on the Danube River
The only river in the world which connects 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
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Did you know?
Archeological point Lepenski Vir is located on
the Danube River in Serbia It originates from
5,300 years B.C.
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Did you know?
Archeological point Viminacium is located on the
Danube River in Serbia It is a Roman fortress
that originates from 1st century B.C.
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Did you know?
Tabula Traiana is a living proof of an old Roman
road and bridge over Danube from 103 A.D. (over
1,000 m long)
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Did you know?
Iron Gate gorge is the deepest part of the Danube
River deep over 100m
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Did you know?
Kalemegdan fortress in Belgrade originates from
3rd century B.C.
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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 section
  of the river and to provide navigable conditions

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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
  and marking, river training works and river
  information services

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Balkans Conflict in 1990s

• during the 1990s, 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 time when sanctions were lifted,
  waterborne transport began to increase for a new
  several years
• and then the year 1999 came

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NATO Bombing of Serbia (1999)
57 bridges in Serbia were destroyed or damaged in
NATO bombing
7 out of 10 bridges on the Danube River in Serbia
were all or half ruined
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NATO Bombing of Serbia (1999)
Bridges on the Danube River destroyed during NATO
bombing of Serbia
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NATO Bombing of Serbia (1999)
All three of them were destroyed
Bridges in the City of Novi Sad before 1999
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Danube Revival

• immediate solution was a pontoon bridge (1999)
  which was removed in 2005, when one of the
  destroyed bridges was reconstructed

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Danube Revival

• first temporary road-railroad bridge in Novi Sad
  was built in 2000 and it 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 began to
  recover

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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

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Danube Revival
Project 1Construction of a New Zezelj bridge in
Novi Sad
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Danube Revival
Project 2Removal of UXOs from NATO bombing
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Danube Revival
Project 3Removal of sunken German fleet from WW2
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Danube Revival
Project 4Implementation of River Information
Services (RIS)
2009
2012
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Danube Revival

• EU has recognized results of Serbia and supported
  them

Financial agreement between EU and Serbia signed
in April 2008
Full Scale Implementation of RIS in Serbia, worth
11 Million Euros, among prioritized projects
To be implemented from 2009 to 2012
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Danube Revival
Project 5Rehabilitation of navigation locks on
the Iron Gate
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Danube Revival
Project 6River training works on the critical
sections on the Danube River
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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
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Challenges for the Future
Improving cross-border cooperation in the region
Applying European standards in IWT
Promoting inland waterway transportation
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Thank youfor your attention

Istanbul, March 2009