Russian loan for budget prior to end of January

- The negotiations on withdrawal of so-called Russian investment loan have not been discontinued. Russian side is now examining the documentation that concerns the projects whose realization would be financed from the bilateral credit arrangement - Zoran Ćirović, the Assistant Minister of Finance, told Blic yesterday (January 21, 2010).

He expressed expectation that the negotiations would be resumed in February. So far, only the agreement on the loan of 200m USD for the budget support has been reached, and that money, according to Ćirović's words, will be withdrawn by the end of January.

- The delegation of Russian railways was staying in Belgrade at the end of the last year because major share of the loan is planned to be invested in the railway infrastructure. Russian side obtained the documentation for concrete projects that they are examining at the moment - says Ćirović.

According to his words, the works will be carried out by Russian and Serbian building operatives, while Serbian side insists on bigger engagement of local companies.

During the visit of the President of Russia, Dmitrij Medvedev, to Belgrade in 2009, the political agreement was made with President Tadić on the loan worth 1 billion USD, and the negotiations on crediting terms started at the end of October 2009.