UPDATE 1 - Russia Approves $1.0 Bln in Loan to Serbia, Including $200 Mln for Budget Support - Media

Details of the loan will be agreed upon and made public during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Belgrade later on Tuesday, EMportal (www.emportal.rs) quoted Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying. EMportal did not elaborate whether the $200 million portion of the loan will go towards supporting Serbia's budget for 2009 or 2010.

The remainder of the loan will go towards infrastructure projects, such as railways, Shoigu said.

The government in Belgrade has drafted the 2010 budget bill with a deficit equivalent to about 4.0% of the projected gross domestic product, EMportal reported earlier on Tuesday, quoting State Secretary at the Finance Ministry Slobodan Ilic.

($=0.6696 euro)