Completion of railway Corridor 10 through Serbia calls for an investment of about EUR 4 billion over the next eight years, Dejan Lasica said at the opening of a two-day international conference on investment plans for the railways of South East Europe in Belgrade Tuesday.

The calculated amount also covers the costs for documentation and expropriation and Serbia has already entered loan negotiations with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), said the assistant minister for infrastructure and railways.

He said the two banks offered the best loan terms.

He said Serbia was also open for negotiations with private investors, i.e. for the use of a public-private partnerships model.

The completion of the railway Corridor 10 through Serbia implies electrified double-track railroad where trains will be able to run at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour.

The conference is organized by Russell Publishing Limited, based in London, and the hosts of the meeting are the Serbian Railways and the Serbian Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.

The conference gathered representatives of railway companies, European banks and institutions, eminent experts, and other significant actors who will discuss the development plans for the railways in the region.

The international conference 'Rail Investment South-East Europe' is being held for the fourth time and the previous three were held in 2006, 2007 and 2009.