MOSCOW, Dec 5 (NNN-TASS) – Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, agreed to develop cooperation in various spheres, primarily in the energy sector.
“All aspects of interaction between Russia and Serbia have a character of genuine strategic partnership,” Putin said, at a joint press conference with Vucic, following their talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
According to the Russian leader, bilateral trade amounted to 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, and it grew 9.5 percent in Jan-Sept this year.
Russia is the leading gas exporter to Serbia, supplying the country’s consumers with more than 2.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas last year, Putin said.
Serbia has also joined the construction of an extension of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline from Russia to southern Europe, and the laying of the pipes on the Serbian territory will be finished in the next few weeks, Putin said.
An agreement was reached to increase the capacity of underground gas storage facilities in Serbia to two billion cubic metres from 750 million, he added.
Serbia will not reduce the level of cooperation with Russia, despite its aspiration to join the European Union, Vucic said, at the press conference.– NNN-TASS