KOŠARAC: RUSSIA ONCE AGAIN APPROVED THE IMPORT OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES FROM BIH

EAST SARAJEVO, APRIL 14 /SRNA/ - Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations in the Council of Ministers Staša Košarac said that Russian Federation today once again approved the import of fruits and vegetables from BiH, which is a clear friendly signal of this country, as is the fact that BiH has the cheapest gas in Europe.

"When it comes to fruits and vegetables imports, we expect that nine companies from Republika Srpska along with 92 subcontractors from Republika Srpska will be engaged, as well as five companies with 15 subcontractors from Federation of BiH /FBiH/," said Košarac.

Košarac said that the end of activities on the export of products of animal origin is near, and that approval is expected in the next two to three months.

"In that context, six facilities from BiH and five facilities from the Russian Federation will be engaged, which speaks of friendly relations of Russia towards BiH, equal to Republika Sprpska and FBiH," Košarac told the press in East Sarajevo.

After the meeting with delegation of Russian Federation, led by the co-chairman of the Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation of BiH and Russia Anton Šalaev, and with the mayor of East Sarajevo Ljubiša Ćosić, Košarac said that this meeting confirms good relations of Russian and Serb people.

"The meeting also shows that we are fully committed to cooperation in all areas and that we want to contribute to the development of relations between the Russian Federation and the Republika Srpska, and I would say BiH, following the policies defined by the presidents / of the Republika Srpska Milorad/ Dodik and /Russian Federation Vladimir/ Putin," said Košarac.

According to him, today's meeting also discussed the development of economic and trade relations between Republika Srpska and the Russian Federation.

"We will see if FBiH understands it in the best light, but I think that it is a good opportunity to repeat some facts, namely that in 2024, Russia delivered 260 million cubic meters of gas to BiH, and that in the first three months of this year, about 85 million cubic meters of gas were delivered, and this is the most favorable commercial contract thanks to Dodik and Putin," he said.

Košarac confirmed that one of the subjects was the membership of BiH in World Trade Organization, for which there is still a question of negotiation with the Russian side, as well as that today's meeting showed the good intention of the Russian Federation to help everyone in BiH, as a continuation of their universal policies towards all three peoples and both entities in BiH.

During the next period, Košarac announced, work will also be done on the adoption of the agreement on the protection of foreign investments between BiH and the Russian Federation, which was blocked by the EU, and which is one of the preconditions for increased Russian investments in BiH.

"The largest foreign investor in BiH in 2023 was the Russian Federation, and that is not in the Sarajevo narrative," emphasized Košarac.

He said that it is important to continue working on the formation of a working group for regional cooperation, in order to intensify relations at the level of companies in the fields of education, health, culture and sports from Srpska and Russia.

"Today, we also talked with the mayor of East Sarajevo about how to position this city, as a strategic place for the Republika Srpska, and enable agreements with cities in the Russian Federation," said Košarac.