Negotiations on free trade with Eurasian Economic Union to enter final stage

The final negotiations on free trade with the Eurasian Economic Union will begin next week, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia Rasim Ljajic announced today.

He said on TV Pink that he expected the agreement with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan to be completed before the visit of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to Serbia, scheduled for January 17.

He added that most of the agreement had already been defined, but that several things interesting to Serbia remain to be agreed on – meat, certain kinds of alcoholic drinks, cheeses, cigarettes, sugar, cars…

The agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, he says, will not jeopardize the trade with the EU.

– Until we become a full member of the EU, we have the right to make free trade agreements. Once we enter the EU, those agreements will no longer be in effect and we will be a part of the EU trade system – Ljajic said.

He reminded that the EEU market was a market of 180 million people, making for a great opportunity for Serbian producers and sending a positive signal to foreign investors.

Ministarstvo turizma i omladine Republike Srbije

Ministry of Trade Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia

Rasim Ljajic

Vladimir Putin