Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 31 October (BelTA) – Belarus is interested in increasing trade with Serbia, Belarus’ Prime Minister Sergei Rumas said as he met with his Serbian counterpart Ana Brnabic on 31 October, BelTA has learned.

“The dialogue between the governments of our countries has been recently quite vibrant. This is a dialogue between equal partners, based on mutual respect. Serbia has a special place among our trade and economic partners. We have a free trade agreement. We understand Serbia’s wish to join the European Union. We understand that the preferential treatment regime will probably become a thing of the past, especially since we must use time to increase mutual trade. I am convinced that contacts between governments will help us understand each other better and perform activities on the roadmap approved last year,” said Sergei Rumas.

Ana Brnabic arrived in Minsk to attend the Munich Security Conference Core Group Meeting. Bilateral meetings are also on the schedule. “Belarus and Serbia have a high level of political and economic cooperation and it should become even higher,” the Serbian prime minister stressed.

In January-August 2018 the trade between Belarus and Serbia amounted to $96.3 million. Belarusian exports stood at $56.8 million, imports from Serbia at $39.5 million. There are the plants assembling Belarusian tractors and buses in Serbia.