Mercedes interested in strategic cooperation with Ikarbus

Mercedes, the world's No.1 carmaker, is interested in strategic cooperation with Serbia's bus manufacturer Ikarbus, Kurir reported Tuesday. According to this daily newspaper, the representatives of this famous automobile manufacturer were on a visit to Belgrade on Monday, where they talked with the Serbian government about the possibility of them establishing strategic cooperation with Ikarbus.

- At the initiative of Mercedes representatives, this company has been negotiating possible strategic partnership with Ikarbus over the last few months. All details of the cooperation between these two companies have been agreed upon, so Mercedes representatives wrapped up their negotiations with Vice President Aleksandar Vucic on Monday to offer Serbia the best possible terms for joint cooperation. A strategic partnership agreement should be signed by the year's end - the newspaper cited its source as saying.

According to this source, Mercedes and Ikarbus would be manufacturing buses together.

Ikarbus CEO Aleksandar Vicentic told Kurir that the negotiations with Mercedes had been going on for months, adding that that was a big thing for Ikarbus "because if the world's No.1 car maker shows interest in working with us, that means we are worth a lot."