PM hopeful of "finishing homework" by 2019

PM hopeful of "finishing homework" by 2019

"We are carrying out many reforms and we hope that we will be able to finish our 'homework' before 2019. Then there it will no longer up to us but up to EU member states to accept us or not," Vucic said in Davos.

Asked "how difficult it is to have close relations with Russia and China and also aspire to EU membership," Vucic said it was not contradictory.

"It (EU membership) is our strategic objective, and we want to maintain good relations with everyone, which I think is the goal and all the others. This is nothing strange or contradictory," said Serbian prime minister.

"We are Serbia, we are not someone else. We are a sovereign and independent state," said he, and added: "We have our own policy and we are on our way to the EU. We do not intend to leave that road."

He said that Serbia is the first country in the region and in South-Eastern Europe which brought fiscal consolidation measures "without pressure from the outside, with an agreement with the International Monetary Fund."

"It is not easy to implement fiscal consolidation measures. We adopted a modern Labor Law, laws on privatization, bankruptcy and planning and construction, but of course the most difficult are the fiscal consolidation measures," said Vucic, adding that the government was "doing everything to improve the business climate."

According to him, large economic growth cannot be expected in 2015 with these measures in place, but added he "hopes that growth will be higher than that forecast by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (0.5 percent), despite the catastrophic floods which caused significant damage to Serbia."

Speaking about the possibility of providing state assistance to those Serbians who took out loans in Swiss francs, Vucic said that the intervention of the state in solving this problem will be "minimal."

"We will do everything we can to help our clients in a way that banks find acceptable," said the Serbian prime minister.

Speaking about Thursday's meetings with officials and representatives companies, Vucic said told the Serbian state broadcaster RTS that he and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans discussed "Serbia's European path - what Serbia should do on that path," stating that the EU official "welcomed the economic reforms."

"On my initiative we also discussed certain objections coming from the EU," the prime minister said.

While in Davos, Vucic met with Mohammed Al Abbar, who heads the realization of the Belgrade Waterfront project.

Vucic did not talk about the details of the conversation, noting that more discussions will be held in February, when Al Abbar visits Belgrade, but pointed out that the project "will be realized," and that both Serbia and the capital will "look much different than today because the project will create new jobs, boost the construction industry.".

Vucic also "invited Google to Serbia," and told Director of Google Ideas Jared Cohen during their meeting that Serbia will offer "the best possible conditions" in the region.

Vucic, who finished his participation at the World Economic Forum, also met with representatives of Russia's Sberbank. According to him, the bank is close to reaching, together with the EBRD, "an arrangement" with the Serbian power company EPS.