19 October 2019 17:00 Belgrad, Republic of Serbia
Following the talks, the sides signed a number of Russian-Serbian intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements, as well as corporate documents.
Ana Brnabic (via interpreter): Once again, let me officially welcome you to the Palace of Serbia. Thank you for taking the time to join us in celebrating our common victory in the Second World War.
It was a great honour for us to have President Vladimir Putin as a guest this year. Your visit additionally confirms a high level of relations between the Russian Federation and Serbia.
Thank you very much and welcome to Serbia.
Dmitry Medvedev: Prime Minister,
The last time I visited Serbia was 10 years ago, on 20 October 2009. It is a great pleasure for me to be in your friendly country again, and this time there is a very good reason: to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Belgrade’s liberation.
This is our common holiday. On the other hand, it is also an excellent opportunity for us to exchange views on the development of our relations.
I am very happy to meet you. I hope that the talks today and your visit to Moscow, which is planned for the near future, will promote the development of our cooperation across the board.
Once again, thank you for the warm reception and for the wonderful weather. Let’s begin our talks.
Dmitry Medvedev meets with President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic
Excerpts from the transcript:
Dmitry Medvedev meets with President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic
Aleksandar Vucic: Mr Medvedev, my dear friend, I hope it feels like home to you here in Belgrade and in Serbia.
It is a great honour for us to welcome you to Belgrade today, as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of our capital city. Your visit confirms the sincere friendly relations between our countries and our people.
As for our economic relations, I believe we should work harder to develop and strengthen them. But overall, all is well, our trade is growing, and everything is going well with the gas pipeline. And the rest is even better, if I may say so.
Thank you very much, and we are grateful to President Putin for supporting Serbia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence. We really appreciate it.
Once again, welcome to Serbia, and many thanks for your visit.
Dmitry Medvedev: Mr President, dear friend, I am happy to be your guest. And the reason for my visit, the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade, is a good one, too.
Our communication today started with the demonstration of military equipment, with an armed forces parade. I would like to note that it was very impressive. It shows that Serbia’s economy is growing and provides an opportunity to strengthen its defence capacity and security, and you as the President are in charge of it. My congratulations on this, too.
We held talks on the economy. Indeed, we are doing well. As you have justly noted, our trade is climbing, and investments are growing. We will shortly witness our colleagues signing a number of documents. We are marking today’s event that connects our people with good results. Thank you very much for inviting and welcoming us, and for the wonderful weather, too. We have got everything we could wish for from our Serbian friends today.
I have just delivered a speech at the National Assembly of Serbia in a similarly friendly and welcoming atmosphere. I spoke about our view of our countries’ development.
President Putin passed on his greetings and best wishes.
Aleksandar Vucic: Thank you very much for these kind words. I would also like to express my condolences on the tragic events in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Dmitry Medvedev: These are truly tragic events.
Aleksandar Vucic: My condolences to you and the Russian people. And thank you again.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you for your support and condolences.
After the talks, the following documents were signed in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic:
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on the establishment and operation of cultural and information centres
Signed by: Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Grushko and First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic
Agreement of intent on joint realisation of the comprehensive modernisation of the Belgrade – Bar railway section.
Signed by: Executive Officer – Chairman of the Executive Board of Russian Railways Oleg Belozyorov and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia Zorana Mihajlovic
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on the transfer of the Petersburg Leaf of the Miroslav Gospel to the Republic of Serbia and paintings by Nicholas Roerich to the Russian Federation
Signed by: Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky and Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia Vladan Vukoslavljevic
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on granting a state export loan to the Government of the Republic of Serbia
Signed by: Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation Yury Zubarev and Minister of Finance of the Republic of Serbia Sinisa Mali
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on cooperation in plant quarantine and protection
Signed by: Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Sergei Levin and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Resources of the Republic of Serbia Branislav Nedimovic
Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia
Signed by: Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Olga Vasilyeva and Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia Mladen Sarcevic
Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on cooperation in building the Centre of Nuclear Science, Technology and Innovation in the Republic of Serbia
Signed by: Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev and Minister without portfolio responsible for innovation and technological development in the Government of the Republic of Serbia Nenad Popovic
Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and the Office of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia on cooperation in developing innovations and digital technologies in industry
Signed by: Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Oleg Ryazantsev and Minister without portfolio responsible for innovation and technological development in the Government of the Republic of Serbia Nenad Popovic
Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of the Economy of the Republic of Serbia on deploying Russian industrial production facilities on the territory of the Republic of Serbia
Signed by: Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Oleg Ryazantsev and Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Serbia Goran Knezevic
Protocol of Cooperation between the Federal Customs Service (Russian Federation) and the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia in countering customs violations related to the shipment of goods by air, and Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Customs Service (Russian Federation) and the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia on cooperation between customs authorities at Sheremetyevo Moscow International Airport and Nikola Tesla Belgrade Airport to counter fraud
Signed by: Head of the Federal Customs Service Vladimir Bulavin and Director of the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia Milos
Supplementary Agreement to the Contract between Serbian Railways Infrastructure and RZD International on the design and construction of railway infrastructure in the Republic of Serbia as well as modernisation and renovation of signalling, centralisation and blocking systems, communication and telecommunications with establishing a Central Dispatch Centre for trains in the Republic of Serbia
Signed by: General Director of RZD International Sergei Pavlov and Acting Director General of Serbian Railways Infrastructure Miroljub Jevtic
Aleksandar Vucic and Dmitry Medvdev’s statement for the press following Russia-Serbia talks
Excerpts from the transcript:
Aleksandar Vucic (via interpreter): Mr Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation, dear friend Dmitry Medvedev,
Thank you very much for you being in Belgrade today.
The main thing I would like to say is that it is a great honour for us that you are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade with us, 75 years since the moment when the Red Army and Serbian partisans entered the city together, liberating it from the Nazis. I am proud to stress the fact that as peoples who suffered terrible losses during World War II, today we represent a force that is fighting the falsification of history, an alternative interpretation of what really happened during the Second World War.
Your visit to Belgrade, to Serbia is evidence that we will not let history be rewritten. And we will always pay our deepest respect to our Russian and Serbian heroes. Serbia’s heroes liberated Serbia and the former Yugoslavia while Russia’s liberated all of Europe.
