On 24 December 2018, Oleg Belozerov, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Russian Railways, visited the Republic of Serbia on a working visit.
The CEO of Russian Railways met with the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia, Zorana Mikhailovich.
The parties discussed the prospects for concluding a new contract which provides for the reconstruction of the 210-kilometre railway line between Valjevo-Vrbnica-Montenegrin border and the construction of a single dispatch centre for train traffic control in the Republic.
The negotiations included joint maintenance of Serbia’s railway infrastructure.
The status of current projects was also reviewed during the meetings. The Serbian side noted the high quality of work on the projects and their implementation in strict accordance with the schedule. In particular, the first 10 kilometres of track were laid on the Stara Pazova – Inđija stretch of the Belgrade – Budapest line, which is now capable of handling trains at speeds of up to 200 kph.
Despite difficult technical conditions, the construction of a double-track railway tunnel of Čortanovci and a viaduct on the floodplain of the River Danube along the Stara Pazova – Novi Sad section are proceeding on schedule.
The parties stressed that these facilities are not only strategically important in the development of Serbia’s railway infrastructure, but also unique in terms of the scale and engineering solutions used in their design and construction.
The parties confirmed their mutual interest in expanding Russian participation in the construction and modernisation of Serbia’s rail infrastructure. Oleg Belozerov noted in particular that the Russian Railways’ Holding is ready to increase significantly cooperation through new projects both in Serbia and in third countries.
“The teamwork between Russian and Serbian rail staff is very well-coordinated, but we are ready to work even faster. I am sure that together we can carry out projects of any complexity,” said Belozerov at a briefing on the results of the negotiations.