During his first visit to Serbia, the European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice-President, responsible for the Western Balkans, Robert de Groot attended the signature ceremony for an €80 million loan with Elektrodistribucija Srbije d.o.o (EDS), Serbia’s electricity distribution company, to replace obsolete electromechanical metering devices with around 400 000 smart meters. As part of a wider electricity grid modernisation programme, the installation of new smart meters will help the distribution system operator reduce electricity losses, improve collection rates and facilitate the integration of renewables in the near future. The signature ceremony was attended by the Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović, Business Systems Director of EDS Vjekoslav Bobar, and State Secretary for the Ministry of Finance Ana Tripović.