This will be the FIRST MEASURE! Vucic reveals the level of food supplies, announces conversation with Putin

Photo:Tanjug.rs

A meeting of the Council for National Security was held in the Palace of Serbia on Friday chaired by President Aleksandar Vucic. The focus of the session were the urgent measures to preserve the country's energy stability amid global turmoil.

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Vucic addressed the public to say that the main topic of discussion was the security of energy supplies and the protection of the standard of living in light of the sudden jump in oil prices on global markets.

"We held a meeting of the Council for National Security today, where we analyzed the situation in February and March, with a special focus on energy security, but we also discussed the possibility of the threat of terrorism, a cyber war against Serbia, and preparing our response," he said and added:

"In terms of energy, it's not just oil. There is more at stake - the price of gas, a major problem on the world market, is currently the highest it has been in the last three and a half years."

Vucic said that painful measures will have to be implemented, but that he will see to it that they are not so painful for the citizens.

"Today the price of diesel, should be 257 dinars (per liter), and it is 208 dinars at gas stations," the president gave an example.

"The goal is to keep the price under control and supply uninterruped. The first measure, accordingly, is the reduction of excise duties. We found a legal possibility to reduce them by more than 20 percent," he said.

"When you look at the excise duties, which we reduced by 20 percent, we are losing 35 million euros in monthly (state budget) income. At the annual level, it is a loss of 420 million euros," Vucic warned, explaining what the state is giving up. He also pointed out that the state will do everything to curb inflation and enable a normal life for citizens.

Gasoline price rises by 2 dinars

"Today we will go for an increase, (price of) gasoline will increase by only 2 dinars. Today we will reduce excise duties by another 40 percent. We will basically give up our budget revenue to hold this price and we will hold it in the weeks ahead," Vucic said.

There will no shortages and there are none, the president stressed, adding that the only question are the prices, but that the prices will not go beyond this.

"Don't stockpile, we took care on time, there is plenty of everything. We are well supplied," he said.

"We will now import everything we can and get close to the level of reserves we have been maintaining. I will try to talk with President Putin about the gas arrangement that expires on March 31, if we get a favorable price, that would ease our problems," he noted.

The deficit in payments with foreign countries is what Vucic singled out as the only issue in the immediate future.

"When we go for a 60 percent reduction in excise duties, we lose 104 million euros per month. It's a disaster, and we're not to blame. I hope that someone in the world will come to their senses," remarked Vucic.

Smart countries prepare for crises in advance, he added, noting that Serbia has "the largest reserves of oil and gas."

"If the gas supply stops tomorrow, we can stabilize everything that is necessary with what we have in reserves. We are able to handle that even that from our own sources," Vucic said.

Food supplies

Speaking about reserves held by the Army, Vucic said "everything is full to the brim". Currently there is a shortage of fertilizers which will be a big blow to agricultural production, he warned.

"There is enough wheat," he also said, speaking about food supplies.

"Mercantile corn as well, we have oil. If we produced and bought nothing, which is not possible, we would have enough wheat to cover 20 days, about 16 days worth of corn, 20 days worth of rice, 45 days of oil, sugar - as much as you like...," he stated.

Money, Vucic said, is the biggest problem, but the state has been opening factories.

"I have good news for all citizens. You know that there was a problem with child allowances, after we increased the minimum wage. Now the right to child allowance will go back to those who were deprived of it, and the threshold will be increased from 13,000 to 18,000 dinars," he announced.

Finally, the president reiterated that there are no problems with supplies, nor will there be any. Regarding the prices, he said that he will not allow reasonable limits to be exceeded.

"The most dangerous thing would inflation, we will not tolerate anything above 0.5 percent. We will react harshly against vendors and all others who might try to abuse this situation," Vucic warned.

(Telegraf.rs)