During the state visit of China’s president Xi Jinping, who brought a big business delegation to Serbia, domestic officials said the partners from the most populous country were presented with the possibility to invest in environmental protection.
Energy minister Aleksandar Antić told government-controlled news agency Tanjug that the city of Pančevo, located northeast of capital Belgrade, was defined as the first municipal unit for Chinese experts to do analysis and studies. A memorandum of understanding was signed on the funding and the construction of a power plant fuelled by waste. Antić said the next step is the feasibility study, which is to determine whether Pančevo, an urban area of over 120,000 inhabitants, can generate enough material. The announced endeavour would be a pilot project, according to the minister.
Siniša Mali, mayor of Belgrade, signed a memorandum of understanding on the development and investment in wastewater treatment with representatives of Chinese companies Africa Investment and Development Co. and China Machinery Engineering Corporation. The document says the project, worth EUR 500 million, envisages the creation of 14 treatment facilities. Mali stressed the fact that Belgrade, a European capital, pours all its liquid waste to the rivers of Sava and Danube.
