Belarus and Serbia Agree to Develop Military-Technical Cooperation

One of the most important foreign policy events in late January was the visit to Minsk of the Serbian delegation led by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. During the visit, the delegation met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov.
Experts call Serbia the most promising Balkan country for Belarus. The parties agreed to develop military-technical cooperation and strive to increase bilateral trade to $500 million turnover.
Serbian Defence Minister Zoran Djordjevic emphasised the great potential of the Belarusian-Serbian relations in the military-technical sphere, as well as the possibility of establishing joint projects in the defence industry with an entry to markets of third countries.
“Belarusian trucks and construction equipment would be of interest to the Serbian army. There is the possibility of cooperation on repair and modernisation of various weapon systems produced in Russia,” said the minister.
Following the talks, Belarus and Serbia signed a roadmap for the development of cooperation for 2017-2018, which includes more than 50 measures, as well as a package of bilateral documents in various fields, including the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on military-technical cooperation.
The document was signed by Chairman of the Belarusian State Military Industrial Committee Sergei Gurulev and Serbian Defence Minister Zoran Djordjevic.
“The roadmap will be the basic element of bilateral cooperation in various fields in the near future. These agreements are designed to strengthen the legal framework of our cooperation and identify new lines of cooperation in these areas,” said Andrei Kobyakov. “Belarus and Serbia are reliable partners, and we have good prospects for further cooperation,” he added.
According to Kobyakov, joint ventures and joint projects will allow the countries together take advantage of each of the parties and make big profits.
“Belarus aims to have long-term cooperation with Serbia. For our part, we are committed to take into account the interests of Serbia and ensure maximum localisation of joint products,” said Andrei Kobyakov.

Translated by Olga Klevko