A team of experts from countries that use the Danube for trade and transport has said that it will cost more than ninety million dollars to re-open the Serbian stretch of the river and rebuild all the bridges that were hit during the NATO air campaign.

The Serbian newspaper, Politika, said the experts from the eleven-nation Danube Commission were ending a four-day fact-finding visit to Yugoslavia.

They said clearing the river of debris could take up to six months, and repairing and rebuilding bridges would require up to three years.

The Commission is expected to approach the European Union and the World Bank to help fund the project.