January 18 (SeeNews) - Serbia'a state-owned railway infrastructure company signed a 230 million euro ($263.5 million) deal for expansion and modernisation of the railway network with Russia's RZD International, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said.
"These contracts are already worth 230 million euro today, and I believe that, if everything goes according to plan, they can reach 660 million euro," Vucic said during a joint news conference with visiting Russian president Vladimir Putin on Thursday, according to a press release issued by the Serbian president's office.
The deal between Infrastruktura Zeleznice Srbije and the Russian railway infrastructure engineering 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,
Serbia's infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic said earlier this week.
The deal between RZD International and the Serbian company was just one of more than 20 agreements and memorandums of cooperation in various spheres signed during the official visit of Vladimir Putin in Belgrade, local media reported.
These include an agreement between Serbian power utility EPS and Russia's Power Machines company for renovation of hydro power plant Djerdap 2, a memorandum on Russian-Serbian cooperation in the electricity sector, an agreement on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes with Russia's Rosatom, private TV channel N1 reported.
Srbijagas and Gazprom signed a MoU for expanding the capacity of the underground gas storage facility Banatski Dvor in Serbia from 450 to 750 million cubic meters and doubling the maximum withdrawal capacity to 10 million cubic metres per day.