Russia has agreed to grant Serbia a $500 million loan, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday, April 10 with a first tranche of $300 million to be handed over immediately, RIA Novosti reported.

“An agreement will be signed on the provision of a half a billion dollar loan by Russia for the Serbian budget,” Dacic said at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Dacic is in Moscow to discuss bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

In September 2012 Serbia asked Russia for a government loan to finance the budget deficit. Serbia originally requested a $1 billion loan but in March 2013 Serbian Finance and Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said the countries were negotiating a $500 million loan.

Dacic said the Serbian people were grateful to Russia for the support it was providing. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Serbia would get a first $300 million tranche immediately.

“We’ll now sign [the documents] and they will immediately get...the first tranche of $300 million.”