Serbian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic signed on Monday an agreement on the reduction of roaming charges in public mobile networks with the relevant ministers of Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) and Macedonia.

The agreement envisages a gradual reduction in roaming fees in the signatory countries, with a view to bringing them in the next three years to the level valid in the EU member countries.

Ljajic told reporters that, in a month's time, the authorities should define the exact pace of reducing roaming fees in the national legislations of the countries that signed the agreement, the third thing being talks with mobile operators.

“We are aware that they will not be thrilled with our initiative, but we will try to present clear economic arguments as to why it is in their interest too that the agreement be realized,” Ljajic said.

He noted that Serbian citizens pay five times more for one minute in roaming, three times more for an SMS, and 33 times more for using GPRS.

Ljajic said that during today's meeting, the signatories of the deal agreed to launch an initiative toward the EU, and that the EU directive on roaming charges is applicable to Serbian citizens, although the country is not yet a member of the EU, but is in the process of accession.

He noted that the first initiative by Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia had not yielded results, and added that he is not too optimistic this time either.