* Medvedev to discuss 1 billion euro loan for Serbia
* Serbia wants to become Russia's partner in energy deals
By Aleksandar Vasovic
BELGRADE, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visits Serbia on Tuesday with Belgrade seeking terms for a 1 billion euro loan and hoping to strike further energy deals with its traditional ally.
Russia and Serbia share a common Orthodox Christian and Slavic heritage, but the Kremlin has driven hard bargains in recent energy deals with Belgrade and bilateral trade has tumbled so far this year.
Serbia asked Russia for the 1 billion euro ($1.5 billion) loan in July to help curb a wide budget deficit, and aims to find out how much it will cost during Medvedev's visit, which includes talks with President Boris Tadic.
"We will explore major joint projects during the upcoming talks -- projects in the energy sector, in the sphere of transport and cultural, humanitarian and scientific cooperation," Medvedev said in an interview published by Serbia's Vecenje Novosti daily on Monday.
"We will have to work more not only to strengthen the foundations of our cooperation but to unleash its rich potential," he said, according to a Russian transcript of his interview supplied by the Kremlin.
Belgrade needs to keep its budget deficit down under a deal with the International Monetary Fund to ease the effects of the global financial crisis. It wants to use 350 million euros to help cover the deficit, with the rest earmarked for spending on railways and motorways.
Serbia has attracted almost $12 billion in foreign direct investments since 2003, but Russia's contribution has been modest, with the country ranking 19th in the list of investors.
Bilateral trade totalled $4.04 billion in 2008, but it fell 47 percent in the first eight months of the year, according to Russian government data. Russian exports to Serbia made up 86 percent of 2008 bilateral trade turnover.
"The two presidents will discuss all the details of the Russian loan, which will serve as a boost to Serbia's macroeconomic stability and infrastructure," Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic told a business forum in Belgrade.
Serbia wanted to become Moscow's partner in energy deals, he told a joint Serbian-Russian forum, but gave no details.
Medvedev led a Russian delegation to sign a major energy deal with Serbia last year when he was a deputy prime minister.
Under the deal, Russia's Gazprom said it would develop an arm of the South Stream gas pipeline, allowing Russia to bypass Ukraine via Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia.
Russia opposed last year's independence of Kosovo, Serbia's former southern province. However, Medvedev's visit is likely to focus more on economic issues than politics. (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by David Stamp)