Serbia Paying High Price For Not Imposing Sanctions Against Russia - President Vucic - UrduPoint

Serbia is paying a high price for not following the sanctions regime imposed by the West on Russia, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday.

"The price we are paying is enormous. We effectively have no access to the capital market ... There is an issue of loans, the so-called roll-overs, given the situation in Ukraine, (Serbia will) have a forced deficit of 3 to 4% and will have to offset it as well ... In the end, all this hits salaries and pensions," Vucic said on air of Serbian channel tv Prva.

The president stated that Belgrade would follow its own course in relations with Russia and will fight to stay independent in its foreign policy course. He noted that Belgrade refrained from sanctioning Moscow "out of self-respect, out of respect to our country, to the principles of international law." Vucic added that this decision was not motivated by gas price incentives offered by Russia, as the money Serbia is currently losing due to the drying up of foreign direct investment and other factors is far greater than what it would have lost if gas prices were higher.

Serbia's state-owned natural gas provider Srbijagas has an active contract with Russia's energy giant Gazprom for six million cubic meters of gas per day. The contract expires on May 31, but Serbia hopes to sign a new agreement for 10 years.