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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Russian, Serbian economic cooperation marked by upward trend

Belgrade, 22 June 2007

Serbian Minister of Trade and Services Predrag Bubalo said today that the trade between Serbia and Russia in 2006 for the first time after 16 years reached a record high of $2.45 billion, which reflects the upward trend of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Author: Fonet

Bubalo said at the sixth session of the Intergovernmental Serbian-Russian Committee for Commercial, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation Committee that Russian capital will be welcomed in the privatisation of the national airline JAT, the Serbian oil industry NIS, the construction of the gas pipeline and underground gas storage facilities in Banatski Dvor.

The Minister, who is also co-president of the Committee, pointed to the fact that the only problem in the trade is the huge imbalance.

According to Bubalo, the export-import ratio in trade between Russia and Serbia was only 14.52% last year and due to that it is necessary to work on reducing the trade deficit which could become a threat to the macro-economic stability of Serbia.

The total value of imports from Russia is over $2.1 billion, while exports from Serbia were worth only $311 million, said Bubalo, adding that during the first three months Serbia exported goods worth $75 billion, which is 26.9% more than in the previous year.

Bubalo stressed that the areas in which Serbian and Russian firms can cooperate are construction, energy, food industry, banking sector and tourism.

He said that it is necessary to do further work on liberalisation of mutual trade and creation of conditions for Russian firms to participate in the privatisation process in Serbia.

Russian Minister of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu said that Russian economy is open to foreign investments, and for capital investments from Serbia.

He stressed that the Russian side is interested in development of economic relations in the areas of agriculture, energy, pharmaceuticals and construction, and that Russian firms wish to participate in the privatisation of NIS, transport companies, investments in the mining and metallurgical complex RTB Bor, banking and tourism.

On the other hand, we are also interested in wider investments by Serbia, explained Shoigu, and added that the volume of investments by Serbia in Russia in 2007 was three times more than in 2005.

At today’s session of the Serbian-Russian Committee besides the analysis of cooperation in trade and economy, results of implementing the free trade agreement of August 28, 2000 will also be discussed, as well as the realisation of projects in the framework of the intergovernmental agreement on regulation of debt obligations of the former USSR towards the former Yugoslavia, relating to the Republic of Serbia.