The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting.
Excerpts from the transcript:
Dmitry Medvedev’s meeting with Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic
Dmitry Medvedev: Madam Prime Minister,
We have been meeting often recently, and there are good reasons for that. First there was my visit to Serbia, which was held at a very high level. It was an important visit, with documents signed and participation in celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Belgrade’s liberation. Today is also a very good and important day in our relations because you have participated in signing a cooperation document, an agreement on a free trade zone between the Eurasian Union and the Republic of Serbia.
I believe this is a very good and important contribution to the development of our relations. A preferential trade regime stipulated in the agreement with Serbia will promote the growth of trade between your country and the Five – and these countries have a population of 183 million people. I hope this document will make it possible to achieve a number of crucial objectives.
It has been a long day. We also worked in the Commonwealth of Independent States format in the morning. So I suggest we go ahead with our talks.
I hope you liked it in Skolkovo. I specially invited our friends and you among them so that you could see how we are developing cutting edge technologies here.
Ana Brnabic (via interpreter): Thank you once again, Mr Prime Minister. Thank you for several things. First, for your hospitality, and second, for your support in ensuring a successful completion of negotiations on the free trade agreement with the EAEU.
You know these negotiations had been going on for quite a while. I would like to thank our Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications and his team involved in the work on this agreement. However, I think the key moment that allowed us to close all outstanding issues and sign this agreement today was President Putin’s visit to Serbia.
Also, thank you for the opportunity to spend the whole day at the Skolkovo Innovation Centre. When we met in Belgrade, I asked you to do us the honour of showing us Skolkovo when I come to Moscow. While you had a meeting with your CIS colleagues, I had a chance to visit the Innovation Centre and the university, and to learn about the vision of your centre. Everyone I talked to – regardless of their attitude towards the Russian Federation – agree that Skolkovo is the best centre of this kind in the world.
Thank you for making it possible for me to see how
it looks and works in reality.
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