Prime Minister of Republic of Srpska Radovan Višković started yesterday a working visit to the Russian Federation upon the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Aleksandar Novak.
Within the program of his visit to the Russian Federation, Prime Minister Višković attended the plenary session of the Sixth Russian Energy Week in Moscow where the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the Prime Minister of Iraq Mohamed al Sudani were the main speakers.
The Prime Minister stated that it was important for Republic of Srpska to be a part of this big international summit and emphasized that cooperation between the Russian Federation and Republic of Srpska in the area of gas supply was of great importance for the energy sector of Republic of Srpska.
“We are grateful to the organizer for the invitation to participate in the work of this International Forum. Cooperation with Russia in the field of energy is very important, especially if we keep in mind that Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are supplied with gas from Russia. This summit is an opportunity to see the direction of further development of the situation in the field of energy in the context of damaged relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation and difficult supply chains. Also, we expect some other investment cycles in the Republic of Srpska in the field of gas, as well as continuation of regular supply to our consumers”, Prime Minister Višković said.
Referring to the speech of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Višković said that he was encouraged by the fact that Russia was not giving up on cooperation with the Western Balkans, which would be confirmed by the meetings he would have in Russia in the coming days.
“Today we could hear that Russia considers the European Union’s policy of introducing sanctions against Russia and abandoning Russian energy products was retrograde, while Russia very quickly found other markets. We received confirmation from President Putin again today, and could also hear this from Minister Lavrov and the Russian ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, that Russia is not giving up on friendly countries, namely those countries that did not support the introduction of sanctions against the Russian Federation. Thanks to the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina is in that group of countries, along with Serbia and Hungary, and I also expect that we will have a favorable gas supply in the coming period as well. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Russian Federation for the balanced price of gas for Republic of Srpska and FBiH, which has grown over the past years. That is why it is incomprehensible to hear the criticism and the desire to impose sanctions on the Russian Federation that come from another entity, which is twice as big a consumer of gas as Republic of Srpska”, Prime Minister Radovan Višković said having added that it was in the interest of Republic of Srpska to provide the most favorable energy sources for the economy and population in the coming period.
During the summit, Prime Minister Višković also visited the exhibition hall and stands of numerous big companies from the energy sector from Russia and the world.
During the second day of the energy summit, Prime Minister Višković will participate in a panel discussion titled “Global Oil and Gas Market: Navigating Period of Turbulence” and will also have a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Aleksander Novak.
In attendance of the Forum are also Minister of Energy and Mining of Republic of Srpska Petar Đokić, director of “Elektroprivreda Republika Srpska” Luka Petrović, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH Staša Košarac and head of the Representative Office of Republic of Srpska in Moscow Duško Perović.
Source: vladars.net
