July 1 (SeeNews) - Serbia's government is in talks with Russia for a 172.5 million euro ($195.4 million) export credit line, to be used to finance infrastructure development projects, Russian media reported on Monday.
"In accordance with the agreements reached during Vladimir Putin’s visit to Belgrade on January 17, a new intergovernmental agreement is being prepared on extending a new export credit to Serbia, to continue the development of Serbia’s infrastructure and to create a modern dispatch centre," RIA Novosti quoted the Russian ambassador in Belgrade, Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko, as saying.
Russian media reported last month that Moscow plans to extend a credit line to Serbia next year in order to finance railway projects worth a total of 230 million euro.
The credit line will finance 70% of the cost of the projects, while the remainder will be contributed by the Serbian government, the vice-president of Russian railway infrastructure engineering company RZD International, Aleksandr Misharin, was quoted saying on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
In January, Serbia's state-owned railway infrastructure company Infrastruktura Zeleznice Srbije signed a 230 million euro agreement with RZD International for expansion and modernisation of the Serbian railway network.
The deal between Infrastruktura Zeleznice Srbije and the Russian company envisages the design and implementation of three projects - electrification of the Stara Pazova - Novi Sad railway section, construction of a modern dispatch centre, as well as continuing with the overhaul of the section from Valjevo to Uzice, part of the railway line linking Belgrade to the Montenegrin port of Bar.
($ = 0.88288 euro)