Russian Railways plans to acquire a stake in an unnamed Serbian company in the first half of 2017, Russian media quoted the vice president of the railway company, Aleksandr Misharin, as saying on Wednesday.
“We plan to acquire a local company in Serbia, which is engaged in a core activity for us – infrastructure maintenance,” Russian news agency TASS quoted Misharin as telling reporters.
The stake will be acquired through RZD International, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, Misharin said, without revealing further details.
In November, Misharin said that Russian Railways is interested in the acquisition of railway operators in Greece, Serbia and Germany. He added that the company is ready to participate in the reconstruction and operation of railroads.
Since March 2014, RZD International has been implementing a project for the construction and reconstruction of railway infrastructure in Serbia, financed with a $800 million (741.7 million euro) loan extended by Russia to Serbian state-run railway operator Zeleznice Srbije.
Serbia and Russia signed the loan deal in January 2013. The proceeds of the loan, which was extended at an interest rate of 4.1%, were earmarked for the upgrade of railway sections of pan-European transport Corridor X in Serbia, as well as for the modernisation of the Belgrade-Bar track, the Beograd-Pancevo track and the construction of the Valjevo-Loznica section.
