Aleksandar Vučić on EXPO 2027: "Everything has to be in perfect order; We will get everything done on time"

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić stated that Switzerland invests around €3 billion in Serbia, adding that trade has improved — the exchange of services stands at €1.62 billion, while total trade amounts to €1.1 billion.

“The visit of the Swiss president gave a boost to future cooperation. We are talking not only about a great president, but also a great expert. They have invested in numerous start-ups in Serbia, science and technology parks, and various projects — trade has exceeded one billion euros. Both our interest and theirs are growing. What is important is that their companies employ around 14,000 people in our country. We also discussed agriculture, transport, and for the first time, innovations in the military industry. These are big and important things for us,” Vučić told Blic TV.

“We have 42 Stadler train sets — excellent trains — and we also discussed other possible future deals. But what is important is that, for the first time, we talked about innovations in the defense industry, which I would say are major and important matters for us. We also discussed potential technology transfers in the future, especially as we aim — and I believe we will succeed — to open a factory in Šabac with the Chinese and start producing robots as soon as possible,” he added.

On NIS and energy

Speaking about oil, he said that energy prices have nearly doubled since the beginning of the crisis.

“Today oil is at 112. Let me remind you, it was 65 before the crisis. Almost double — nearly a 100% increase. So when you ask how we will manage — today or tomorrow we will release new tens of thousands of tons from reserves. We are replenishing those reserves, but that has to be paid for, because we cannot cover it through current prices,” he said.

“For us, May is an extremely important month. I spoke this morning with MOL — everything is proceeding normally, and they will hold additional talks with the Russians and the Arabs. Our refinery is operating normally. We must resolve this within 20 days with MOL,” Vučić emphasized.

“First of all, it is a private company, and its interests are private, but I am sure that the state’s interests are understood as well. We have to resolve this within the next 20 days. And imagine if we didn’t have a refinery producing kerosene at this moment. That’s why we have fewer problems than major world powers that are canceling up to 20,000 flights — even the most powerful companies are scaling down month by month. We are not reducing.”

On EXPO

“EXPO is of vital importance, but by December 1 we must hand over the keys. That means everything has to be perfectly in order. We will also complete the stadium in full externally by EXPO, except for interior works. I’m not saying matches will be played yet, but from the outside it will look like a beauty — everything will be finished. There are 237 Chinese workers and 200 Serbian workers on site. We will complete everything — by EXPO, the National Stadium will be fully finished externally,” Vučić said when asked about EXPO progress during the crisis.