MOSCOW, October 19 (RIA Novosti) - Serbia is close to signing a deal for a $1.5-billion Russian loan, the Balkan country's first deputy prime minister Bozidar Djelic said on Monday.
The deal is expected to be signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit on October 20.
The deputy premier said "a loan agreement, which is almost prepared," will be discussed during Medvedev's visit.
No official information on the details of the loan has yet been released. According to Serbian media, about $520 million would be used to cover the budget deficit, and the remainder to implement joint Russian-Serbian projects, including the construction of a metro system in Belgrade.
"The Russian side's proposal will, on the one hand, benefit macroeconomic stability in Serbia, and on the other, boost its potential, especially in railway infrastructure," Djelic said.
Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, who chairs a Russian-Serbian intergovernmental cooperation committee, said the two countries will jointly develop major economic projects.
"We have entered a new level of cooperation, which includes large projects and major contracts, including in the sphere of infrastructure," said Shoigu, who is currently on a visit to Belgrade.
He added that Serbian companies could take part in the construction of facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympics, to be held in Sochi.
Trade between Russia and Serbia stood at $1.6 million in the first eight months of 2009, of which oil and gas accounted for 80%.
