General Manager of the Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin said on Thursday, ahead of the opening of the 7th International Rail Business Forum in Sochi, that the Russian side had taken all the necessary steps to realize the loan for the modernization of the Serbian rail infrastructure.

The Russian side has already sent all the necessary documents, and now it is up to the Serbian parliament to ratify the contracts, after which we can start realizing the projects together with our Serbian colleagues, Yakunin said.

He underlined that is the priority for Serbia and Russia, which was also confirmed during the bilateral talks between Russian and Serbian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Tomislav Nikolic respectively, in Moscow a week ago.

On that occasion, the Russian president said that Russia stands ready to grant Serbia a USD 800-million loan for the realization of infrastructure projects in the country.

During the talks between the Serbian and Russian companies, it was agreed that the funds will be used for the construction of the second track running from Belgrade to Pancevo (15 km long) and its electrification, the construction of railway from Valjevo to Loznica (68 km), reconstruction of 200 km of the Belgrade-Bar railway, and the reconstruction of 111 km of the railway leading towards European Corridor 10.

The loan agreement has been signed in Moscow earlier this year, and the deadlines and the terms of contractors from Serbia and Russia will be defined by special contracts.

Russia has earlier granted a USD 210-million loan to Serbia for the realization of projects and new trains.