Serbia’s Health Ministry’s state secretary Mirsad Djerlek said o Wednesday his country could begin to produce the Russian Sputnik V anti-coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year.

„The production will have two phases – filling and packaging of the vaccine,“ Djerlek told the Belgrade Prva TV, adding that in the beginning, the mixture would come from Russia and would be packaged in Serbia.

He said Serbia bought a machine for packaging back in 2016, and that it only remained to produce bottles and ampoules.

„It’s complicated to buy a vaccine in the world market, so the investment in its production is the most significant in 2021,“ Djerlek said.

Earlier, President Aleksandar Vucic announced the visit of a group of Russian experts to agree on the Sputnik V production in Serbia. He said the country did not have a facility for the job, but it would build it.