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EBRD helps Serbian Railways buy 1,100 new freight wagons
€60 million to help boost regional trade
The EBRD is lending Javno Preduzece Zeleznice Srbije (Zeleznice Srbije), the
Serbian state-owned railway company, €60 million to purchase around 1,100
freight wagons.
The sovereign-guaranteed loan will enable the company to meet the increasing
flow of freight traffic – such as coal, steel and iron ore – across its 2,980
kilometre rail-route across Corridor X, the main rail track running from
Croatia and Hungary through Serbia. A portion of the loan will finance a wheel
lathe, used to restore the profile of wagon wheels.
At the same time, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending Zeleznice
Srbije €80 million to renew track along Corridor X. The European Agency for
Reconstruction is providing €1.3 million to help implement the overall
project, and the French government is providing €300,000 to help implement a
restructuring component to the project.
Dragica Pilipovic, EBRD Director for Serbia and Montenegro, said this project
will help Zeleznice Srbije implement a major programme of rail sector
restructuring. At the same time it will boost the transport of goods and
materials across the Balkans and beyond, increasing trade and supporting
regional cooperation, said Ms Pilipovic. The Bank, working with institutions
like the EIB and the European Union, is committed to strengthening this
process and sees it as a means to promoting economic growth at a regional
level, she added.
This latest loan builds on cooperation between the EBRD and Zeleznice Srbije.
In 2001 the Bank, together with the EIB, helped the railway company refurbish
electric locomotives, buy new track equipment and initiate a sector
restructuring programme. Zeleznice Srbije operates in both passenger and
freight transport, with the latter forming the majority of its operations.
Milanko Sarancic, General Manager of Zeleznice Srbije, said we must ensure
that the needs of our customers can be met in order to ensure our continued
growth in freight traffic, which in turn, will have a positive impact on our
company’s operating performance and overall economic growth in Serbia. This
will only be achieved through continued investment, which is being greatly
supported by the EBRD and EIB.
The EBRD is the largest investor in Serbia, having committed more than €1
billion in 65 projects.
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