A minister in the outgoing Serbian government told Russia’s ambassador that Belgrade is committed to developing stronger political and economic ties with Moscow.

A press release said that Minister Nenad Popovic and Ambassador Alexander Bocan Harchenko discussed every aspect of the efforts of the Serbia-Russia inter-governmental committee on trade, the economy and scientific cooperation. Popovic is known to have close ties with Russia and presents himself as the cabinet minister for innovations and technical development but is actually a minister without portfolio. He co-chairs the Inter-Governmental Committee.

Popovic is quoted as as saying that political relations between the two countries are excellent as are the close personal relations between Presidents Aleksandar Vucic and Vladimir Putin, adding that those relations guarantee the development of the best possible economic relations “resulting in the best price of gas for Serbia which allows it to be better prepared for the winter than other countries in Europe”.

The minister told the ambassador that Serbia will not impose sanctions on Russia while Bocan Harchenko confirmed Russia’s commitment to strengthening cooperation with Serbia in all segments of bilateral political and economic relations, the press release said.