Vucic: FDI cure for our economy, Russian investments welcome, too

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday FDI were very significant for the Serbian economy and that any interested investors from Russia were welcome, too.

Vucic said this at a special parliament session on Kosovo-Metohija, in response to criticism from Dveri MP Ivan Kostic over Serbia's cooperation with Russia.

Vucic said 2022 had seen an increase of Chinese and Japanese investments in Serbia and that European investments had been slightly lower but remained dominant, with Russian investments accounting for 2.5 pct of the total.

He noted that bilateral trade with Germany totalled 8.3 bln euros last year and would exceed 9 bln euros this year, possibly reaching 10 bln euros.

"It is about the factories that are operating here. That is the cure for the Serbian economy, that is where our higher wages and pensions come from," Vucic said.

"We have no problem with cooperating with the Russian Federation, we are open to that, just like we are paying for gas - we are not a day late... If they are interested and if they have investors, they are always welcome but, unfortunately, they have other worries now," he said.

Commenting on Serbia-Russia relations, Vucic said no other European country had better relations with Russia than Serbia did.

Serbia is acting in a fair and responsible manner, he said.

"But I am neither able nor willing to deal with all the worries Russia and the West have, and they both want me to. We have enough worries that we must deal with in Serbia," he said.