France to mobilise 581 mln euro financing for infrastructure projects in Serbia

The commitment was defined in a cooperation agreement signed by Serbian finance minister Sinisa Mali and French minister delegate for foreign trade Franck Riester in Belgrade, the Serbian president's office said in a press release.

The infrastructure projects include the modernisation of Serbia's power distribution network and the construction of the Belgrade metro, president Aleksandar Vucic said.

"Today's agreement represents the firm intention of the two governments to involve our companies together with Alstom in thе project [...] for the construction of the Belgrade metro," Riester said in the statement.

The agreement paves the way for Alstom to officially submit its commercial offer for the Belgrade construction project in early 2021, French daily Le Figaro quoted Riester as saying on Thursday. "The French state is mobilising itself, via public international financing tools, to support its companies and export French know-how," Riester said.

Last month, Belgrade deputy mayor Goran Vesic said the French government ensured financing for the part of the 4.4 billion euro metro construction project which will be implemented by Alstom, namely the work on electromechanics, trains, railcars, rails and complete power supply, while the Chinese government will provide funding for the construction works to be done by Powerchina.

According to the preliminary design of the project, the Belgrade metro network will consist of two lines - of 22 km and 19.8 km in length, respectively - and will also integrate four urban railway lines.

($ = 0.840463 euro)