Vučić at Serbia-Uzbekistan Business Forum: "Direct Belgrade-Tashkent flight in 7–8 months"

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“The issue of the air route is not something that will take a long time, and I believe we will establish the route within seven to eight months at the latest from now. In other words, you will be able to travel on a regular Belgrade–Tashkent service,” Vučić said in his address to the forum, which was also attended by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Vučić stressed that opening the air route would be crucial to further improving relations between the two countries.

“It will connect people, businesses and companies. It will also help us get to know each other better. More tourists will travel to Uzbekistan—to Samarkand, Bukhara and Tashkent—and I believe a large number of people from Uzbekistan will also visit our country,” Vučić said.

He said Serbia faces challenges with electricity supply compared with Uzbekistan.

“We have not done enough. We completed some major projects for the first time in 40 years, and even that is still not enough. I asked him about it at our one-on-one meeting this morning, and he told me that they are building a nuclear power plant with the Russians and Chinese,” Vučić added.

“I am proud that Serbia is lagging behind less than other European countries. We have the highest growth rate, and next year we will have by far the highest growth rate in Europe—not by a small margin. We are aiming for 4.3 or 4.5 percent. At the same time, I am worried about how we will cope with oil prices and whether we will have enough electricity.”

He said Serbia had filled its gas storage facilities to capacity.

“We have 680 million cubic meters of gas in storage, both in Serbia and Hungary. We must think not only about new markets, but also about technology transfer and understanding where the world is developing most rapidly. We cannot simply focus on how to survive another day or wait for something to fall from the sky,” Vučić said.

He added that there were many areas in which Serbia could cooperate with Uzbekistan.

“Cooperation in startups and artificial intelligence, biotechnology and the ICT sector—we have a lot to learn from them. We need to build highways for data centers, but through all these other areas as well, we can achieve major and significant results,” Vučić said.

“Soon we will sign an intergovernmental agreement, followed by a free trade agreement,” Vučić announced in his address.