Belgrade to host Serbian-Russian Economic Forum in October

The Serbian-Russian Economic Forum will take place in Belgrade October 4-5, as the two nations eye closer cooperation after Serbia joined the free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union.

The forum, sponsored jointly by the Serbian government, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, and the Russian Export Center, will host over 100 companies from Russia, making it the largest economic event held between the two countries to date.

“Our partners from the Russian Export Center announced the participation of over 100 companies from the Russian Federation. These are the largest Russian companies in the field of infrastructure, energy, agro-industrial sector, chemical industry, trade, information technology. Russia’s biggest banks will also be represented,” Nenad Popovic, Serbia’s minister in charge of innovation and technology, announced earlier this week.

According to Popovic, the forum will give Serbian companies the opportunity to introduce their products and services to the Russian market, while also giving Russian companies a way to expand their presence on the Serbian market. The minister expects “numerous agreements” to be signed at the October event.

The forum will take place weeks after the agreement on a free trade zone between Serbia and the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Russia is a member-state, came into force. As per the terms of the agreement, most goods traded between Serbia and Russia are now exempt from customs duties.

In June, a delegation from Serbia attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where negotiations resumed on an upgrade of national air carrier Air Serbia’s fleet with Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 planes, as well as medium-haul MS-21 aircraft. The talks initially began in 2019, but halted due to recent changes in the Serbian government.

Mutual trade turnover between Russia and Serbia in recent years has amounted to around $2 billion, according to Regnum data. Russian exports to Serbia are dominated by mineral and chemical products, while Russia also covers 90% of Serbia’s natural gas needs.

Serbia’s main exports include metal products (steel and copper), machinery and equipment, agricultural products, petrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

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