May 23 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to invest 36 million euro ($40.5 million) this year in the overhaul of the Nis-Dimitrovgrad railway section, in eastern Serbia, a senior EIB official has said.
The investment will be co-financed by a 30 million euro grant from the European Union (EU) which will be channelled through EIB, the head of the EIB Regional Representation for the Western Balkans, Dubravka Negre, said on the sidelines of an economic forum in Belgrade, according to a video file posted on the website of Serbian news agency Tanjug on Monday.
The EIB aims to continue supporting the project next year by providing an additional 36 million euro for the electrification of the Nis-Dimitrovgrad railway line, Negre said during the Vienna Economic Talks forum in Belgrade.
An additional 30 million euro will be granted by the EU for the project next year through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), Negre added.
On Sunday, Negre said the EIB intends to deploy an additional 2 billion euro to the Western Balkans over the next three years on top of 1.5 billion euro already planned.
The Serbian government said last year it estimated the total investment needed for the reconstruction of the Nis-Dimitrovgrad railway section will stand at 195 million euro.
($ = 0.888849 euro)