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Serbia can rely on extra financial assistance from Russia

The renovation of the Belgrade-Pancevo railway would start this fall, while contracts for the implementation of this project would be signed before the year’s end

BELGRADE, August 23 (Itar-Tass) — Serbia can count on extra financial assistance from Russia. Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Konuzin said at a meeting with Serbian Transport Minister Milutin Mrkonjic that Moscow was ready to grant more loans to Belgrade in addition to the 800 million dollars already transferred for the reconstruction of Serbian railways.

“This theme is being discussed. Of course, we should first hear what Serbia needs in particular and then jointly determine possibilities for solving these problems,” the Russian ambassador said, noting that concrete results should appear in the near future.

Alexander Saltanov, the vice-president of the Russian Railways, was present at the meeting where the Serbian side said that the renovation of the Belgrade-Pancevo railway would start this fall, while contracts for the implementation of this project would be signed before the year’s end.

Representatives of the Serbian Railways at the talks also noted that by their calculations the Serbian side was short of approximately 550,000 euros to complete the reconstruction of the Belgrade-Pancevo railway. At present, they are waiting for a decision of the commission of the Ministry for Construction and Urbanization which is supposed to give its final conclusion on the project’s cost.

Mrkonjic also accepted the Russian side’s proposal on strategic cooperation of Russian and Serbian railway men in the Balkan region.

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