Dodik: Intensive cooperation with Serbia "vital"

BELGRADE A very intensive cooperation with Serbia, its biggest economic partner, is vital for the Serb Republic (RS), RS President Milorad Dodik has said. The traditionally good cooperation between Serbia and the RS needs to be further improved, and one way to do it is integration of certain functions in the energy sector, Dodik said at a conference on Serbia’s economic future, taking place in Belgrade on October 14-15. Dodik: Intensive cooperation with Serbia "vital" That would encourage establishing the same kind of cooperation in the region, Dodik said, adding that it would be of great importance for the political stability of the Western Balkans. He pointed out that in recent years, the stability of the region has been improved, but is still not complete, which can be seen in the examples of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and others in the region. Dodik said that Bosnia is "a would-be country that is not consolidated and is fraught with many problems," which prevents its Serb entity, the RS, to make faster progress on its road to the EU. The RS has met all the requirements in its cooperation with the EU, but it cannot continue as the condition is that BiH needs to be fully unified to join the EU, he explained. In its talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the RS has met all the requirements, but the Muslim-Croat federation has not and it halted the Serb entity's European integration process, he said. The RS economy is marked by growth, which shows that it is on the right track to come out of the recession, Dodik said, adding that RS' Telekom was successfully privatized and the Russian companies entered the RS oil sector, enabling the RS to export oil today. He expressed the belief that the RS will continue achieving successes in its economic development and urged investors to invest in the RS, as they can count on many benefits there. (Tanjug) Tanjug

Dodik: Intensive cooperation with Serbia "vital"

That would encourage establishing the same kind of cooperation in the region, Dodik said, adding that it would be of great importance for the political stability of the Western Balkans.

He pointed out that in recent years, the stability of the region has been improved, but is still not complete, which can be seen in the examples of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and others in the region.

Dodik said that Bosnia is "a would-be country that is not consolidated and is fraught with many problems," which prevents its Serb entity, the RS, to make faster progress on its road to the EU.

The RS has met all the requirements in its cooperation with the EU, but it cannot continue as the condition is that BiH needs to be fully unified to join the EU, he explained.

In its talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the RS has met all the requirements, but the Muslim-Croat federation has not and it halted the Serb entity's European integration process, he said.

The RS economy is marked by growth, which shows that it is on the right track to come out of the recession, Dodik said, adding that RS' Telekom was successfully privatized and the Russian companies entered the RS oil sector, enabling the RS to export oil today.

He expressed the belief that the RS will continue achieving successes in its economic development and urged investors to invest in the RS, as they can count on many benefits there.