President, PM meet with Russian transportation minister

President, PM meet with Russian transportation minister

In the building of the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic, Nikolić conferred with Sokolov, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Chepurin and President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin.

In talks with Sokolov, Dačić voiced satisfaction over today's beginning of works on the section from Belgrade to Pančevo that are financed by funds from the Russian loan for reconstruction of the railway infrastructure.

The prime minister underlined that the modernization of the railway infrastructure is one of the Serbian government's priorities.

Together with the Russian delegation, Nikolić and Dačić attended a ceremony marking the start of works on the railway track along the route from Belgrade to Pančevo, which is financed from the funds from the Russian loan, amounting to USD 800 million.

Victims honored

Russian Transportation Minister Maksim Sokolov and officials of Serbian and Russian railway companies laid wreaths on Tuesday at the Eternal Flame memorial in Belgrade.

The memorial is dedicated to the victims of the 1999 NATO bombing campaign. Serbia on Monday marked 15 years since the start of the war.

After the wreath-laying ceremony, Sokolov said that the Russian delegation wanted to pay a tribute to the victims as a reminder of the tragic events 15 years ago.

"Those tragic events are still echoing across Europe," said Sokolov, who added that "maintaining the fragile global peace" was very important.

Serbian Railways Director Dragoljub Simonović said that the Eternal Flame memorial, erected in 2000, symbolizes Serbia's resistance to the NATO bombing campaign.

Many railway workers were killed in the bombing campaign, which also caused massive material damage, Simonović said.