The Morava Corridor Motorway Project consists of a greenfield 112 km dual-carriageway tolled motorway, within a 900 meter right of way, located approximately 200 km south of Belgrade, in a low-level flood plain running east/west along the West Morava River Valley. The Project includes (i) above-ground structures such as interchanges, bridges, culverts, and over/underpasses; (ii) a telecommunication network (digital corridor) supported by power lines and communication cables to connect the telecom stations within the motorway (at rest areas, parking lots, and near traffic loops) and to manage traffic through various traffic control, surveillance, and tolling systems; and (iii) river regulation works intended to protect the Project and its surrounding areas from flooding.

MIGA provided Non-Honoring of Sovereign Financial Obligation (NHSFO) guarantees to six international banks for their non-shareholder loans to the Government of Serbia to develop the Morava Corridor Motorway Project.

In August 2023, CAO received a complaint filed by an affected property owner on behalf of himself and his family members and raised concerns relating to economic displacement, health and safety, environmental issues, violations of laws and standards in relation to the construction of the Morava Motorway, expropriation procedure and compensation offer.

In October 2023, CAO found the complaint eligible and conducted an assessment. Prior to and during CAO's assessment, the complainant, the project implementer, and MIGA continuously worked towards finding a resolution to the complainant’s concerns. These efforts led to the resolution of the complainant’s request for full expropriation of his property, subsequently resolving the complaint issues related to economic displacement, health and safety, and environmental impacts. However, the complainant continued to express concerns about the expropriation process and the compensation offer he received, particularly their alignment with MIGA’s Environmental and Social Performance Standards (PS).

The parties expressed no interest in engaging in a CAO-facilitated dialogue to resolve the remaining issues. Consequently, in accordance with CAO Policy, the case was transferred to CAO’s Compliance function for appraisal.

In July 2024, CAO completed its compliance appraisal with the decision that a compliance investigation was not merited. While CAO’s compliance appraisal concluded there were preliminary indications that MIGA may have failed to ensure the project met all the relevant requirements of PS5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement, the appraisal did not conclude there were preliminary indications of harm or potential harm concerning the compensation offer and the expropriation and relocation process. Since there are no preliminary indications of harm, the CAO Policy requirement of a plausible link between alleged harm and potential noncompliance is not satisfied. Therefore, CAO decided to close the case after appraisal. 

The compliance appraisal report in English. The Serbian translation will be available soon.