Vucic declares that by 2025, an EU-funded children's clinic will be established

The Tirsova 2 University children's clinic, for which the European Union is providing €35.7 million – one of the biggest EU donations for works outside the transportation and energy sector – will be finished by 2025, according to President Aleksandar Vucic, who toured the project's construction site with European Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi on Monday.

The construction of the new University Children's Hospital began in October of last year. The total investment in the project is €117.2 million. The construction work is expected to cost around €95 million in total, with the remainder going toward equipment procurement.

The hospital is going to span more than 57,000 square meters, with 36,000 square meters dedicated to medical space and eight cutting-edge operating rooms. On 11 floors, the complex will house 286 hospital beds spread across 154 rooms.

According to Vucic, when completed in early 2025, the future institution will be a "first-class" centre for treating children from across the region.

"The European Union is very interested in this project." They have agreed to contribute €35 million to assist us in the construction of this massive hospital. That is the immense worth of their assistance. The building will be equipped with cutting-edge technology."We will use cutting-edge technology to treat our children," Vucic said.

The EU has never supported a more significant health infrastructure project, according to the European commissioner, and expects Serbian children to have the best health care in Europe, adding that it is the only positive outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic because health will be valued even more highly than before.

Over the last two decades, the EU has equipped hospitals, laboratories, public health institutes, and blood transfusion centres, as well as providing Serbian health centres with 284 fully equipped ambulances.

Through the European Investment Bank, the EU has given €250 million for the construction and renovation of 20 large hospitals in Serbia, including the Torlak Institute and four University Clinical Centres in Belgrade, Ni, Kragujevac, and Novi Sad.