Would MOL really shut down Pancevo Refinery? President reacts

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic stated last night that those saying MOL, as a partner of NIS, would shut down the Pancevo Refinery, are uttering "fantasies."

Recommended

"The refinery is the heart of our system, without the refinery we physically cannot import enough oil and derivatives. Our problem is not that they (the US) are imposing secondary sanctions - and they will after the New Year, maybe even earlier - but we have a problem because we cannot import 6,000 tons of diesel on a daily basis. We need a (working) refinery as soon as possible, now we are using up reserves," said Vucic.

He told TV Pink that we have strong finances and money and that Serbia was ready to pay for NIS at a real price, not at the Russian price, but also that he cannot find any fault with the Russians and that he had his own theory and two reasons why they did not want to do that.

"I don't want to talk about it so as not to spoil relations, I have no right to do that in the name and on behalf of the citizens of Serbia. And what's important is that we show respect for them because they are not to blame for the sanctions introduced by someone else. Sell to whoever you want, and I know they would never sell. Do what you need to do," said Vucic.

Referring to international relations, Vucic said that in the wider region he sees a deterioration of relations between Jerusalem and Ankara, as well as around Taiwan, adding that he hopes things will go smoothly in that Chinese region, because both China and Japan are our big investors.

He also stressed that Serbia has excellent public finances, which is a prerequisite for easier management of crises.

"Compare the number of cars 12 years ago and now. Shopping centers they (political opponents) were preventing me from building, and now they can't stay away," he said.

The president added that he thinks that as Europe and Russia get closer to a conflict, pressure of the entire West on Serbia to take a clearer stand against the Russians will increase.

He said that they (West) will not want to designate soldiers in our area who could be sent to the Eastern Front, while at the same time having to "secure Serbia" and that this is logical and normal and that he would do the same in their place.

"Our job is to preserve peace and the country and not to go into conflicts. In the 1st World War, we lost 30 percent of the total population as the consequence of the war, especially the male population. Had we not been at war since the Balkan Wars today we would have more inhabitants than the Netherlands, about 17, 18 million," said Vucic.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)