Serbia and Russia on Thursday agreed to initiate cooperation on Serbia's project to improve and restore water transport infrastructure along its Danube corridor.

The Memorandum of Understanding in the area of commercial shipbuilding was signed at a business forum Serbia-Russia by Zorana Mihajlovic, Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia and Oleg Ryazantsev, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia, government confirmed in a press release.

In the focus of the business forum Serbia-Russia, which was opened here by Serbian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic, in front of representatives of some 200 companies from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Serbia, are the opportunities for Russian companies to partake in Serbia's water transport investment project.

Mihajlovic said at the forum that the water transport in past two years got back into the focus of the Serbian government after long neglect, and that the country plans to invest around 300 million euros (334 million U.S. dollars), and secure additional 200 million of private investments, in order to build three new ports on the Danube river, reconstruct existing boat lifts and build new ones, as well as to clear old shipwrecks blocking waterways.

"This will enable non-stop water transport on the Danube... The aim is to make Serbia's Danube corridor much more attractive," she said inviting representatives of companies at the forum to partake in this project.

Ryazantsev said that Russia is ready to support Serbia in the development of shipbuilding sector and water transport.

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