Chinese company CMEC and the Kostolac thermal power station signed a deal Wednesday at the offices of the Serbian government, for the realization of the first stage of the Kostolac B project, worth USD 344 million.

The contract was signed by the General Director of Serbia's national power company Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) Dragomir Markovic, CMEC representative in Serbia Jin Chunsheng and head of the Kostolac plant Dragan Jovanovic, in the presence of Mining and Energy Minister Petar Skundric and Chinese Ambassador in Serbia Wei Jinghua.

Minister Skundric said that the deal encompasses the restoration of the first and second blocks of the Kostolac B plant, the purchase of desulphurization equipment and construction of accompanying infrastructure.

He reminded that the contract is part of the bilateral cooperation between Serbia and China, and said he hoped it would help boost the cooperation in the energy sector and economic cooperation as a whole.

EPS Director Dragomir Markovic pointed out that China Eximbank is expected to approve a loan for the realization of the project in the next two to three months.