December 23 (SeeNews) - The European Union will grant Serbia 598 million euro ($635 million) for the reconstruction and modernisation of the Belgrade-Nis fast railway line, local media reported on Friday.
The agreement is expected to be signed at the end of January or the beginning of February, instead of originally planned date of December, news outlet Politika reported.
The grant will be extended under the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).
The European Investment Bank (EIB) said in June that the total cost of the project is estimated at around 2.78 billion euro, of which it proposed to contribute 1.18 billion euro. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in July it would provide a sovereign loan of up 550 million euro to Serbia to co-finance the project.
Following the overhaul, a train will cover the 230 km distance between Belgrade and Ni in an hour and 20 minutes as travel speed will increase to 200 km/h, Politika said.
($ = 0.9416 euro)