Emphasizing that the two countries' respective energy ministers, Alexander Novak and Aleksandar Antić met in Moscow on June 20 to discuss that issue, he stressed that the Serbian side had confirmed readiness that the South Stream project be completed. Serbia's EU accession itself is not to solve some basic issues in the country, believes Chepurin.
In the past decade and a half of Serbia's moving towards the EU two big investment projects have been realized, namely a FIAT car factory in Kragujevac and Gazpromnjeft in Novi Sad. The efficiency of the Russian project is confirmed by the fact that 14% of the Serbian budget is constituted by the payments of Russian-Serbian company NIS, emphasized Chepurin, adding that Serbia and Russia must cooperate on the basis of mutual benefit.
