Vucic, World Bank delegation discuss Serbia's energy security, development plans

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met on Monday with a senior World Bank delegation headed by Regional Director for Infrastructure for Europe and Central Asia Charles Cormier, and noted that the discussions had focused on Serbia's energy security.

"An exceptionally productive meeting with a World Bank delegation, focusing on Serbia's energy security, the course of active projects we are working on together, as well as on plans for accelerated development of our country in several different areas," Vucic posted on Instagram after the meeting.

He added that they had exchanged views on far-reaching challenges facing the energy sector at global and, especially, regional level.

"I noted that, in that sense, Serbia's cooperation with the World Bank greatly relies on the insights and practical solutions of that institution, whose vast experience in planning capital energy projects opens up a possibility for our country to successfully and quickly implement ambitious plans in terms of diversification of supply sources and energy security," Vucic posted.

He added that special emphasis had been placed on development of new gas and oil infrastructure, as well as on energy efficiency measures for public and residential buildings.

"We also discussed the World Bank's latest report on Serbia, and I expressed gratitude for the realistic assessments pointing to the fact that the Serbian economy had demonstrated resilience to recent shocks thanks to a responsible fiscal policy and efforts to reduce public debt. I thanked the World Bank delegation for the excellent cooperation, and we reached an agreement on the next steps," Vucic also wrote in the post.