Russia and Serbia continue to develop joint economic and infrastructure projects, including in the field of healthcare. Today in Belgrade, a business meeting was held between the Chairman of the Public Council under the Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare (Roszdravnadzor), General Director of the ARPM Victor Dmitriev and the Minister of Health of the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Danica Grujcic. The Minister was solemnly handed a letter of welcome from her colleague, Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko. Paying tribute to the long-term fruitful cooperation between Russia and Serbia, the head of the Russian Ministry of Health noted: “In the context of global challenges and a difficult international situation, the development of the pharmaceutical industry, the development and production of modern medicines and medical devices, the introduction of innovative medical technologies, the strengthening of healthcare infrastructure, support for educational and scientific potential, promotion of medical tourism and the creation of modern regulatory systems are our common tasks and are based on the principles of friendship and mutual assistance.” He also invited Mrs. Grujcic to visit Russia in order to continue the complex interaction between the ministries.
“I am grateful to Mr. Murashko for the warm words of welcome. Of course, Russia and Serbia have long-standing warm relations, and today we are waiting for proposals from Russian colleagues and partners to saturate the Serbian pharmaceutical market with Russian drugs,” Danica Grujcic emphasized during the meeting.
Historically, the Balkan region is of great importance for the Russian Federation, which is explained by the close socio-cultural, religious, political and economic ties between the inhabitants of Russia and the Balkan peoples. Fraternal relations with Serbia are of particular importance for our state. Moscow and Belgrade take a similar position on many issues on the international agenda. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, maintaining independence of opinion, despite the strong pressure from the EU countries, refused to impose sanctions and restrictions against Russia.
It should be noted that the visit of Victor Dmitriev takes place in pursuance of the decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin dated December 06, 2022 No. Pr-2346 on the development of a targeted program to support the export of domestic medicines. The head of the Public Council under Roszdravnadzor gave a positive assessment of the already existing experience of fruitful cooperation between Russia and Serbia as part of the supply of the domestic anti-covid vaccine Sputnik V. The Serbian side has repeatedly noted that the Russian vaccine Sputnik V caused the least number of side effects among vaccines, which played a positive role in the decision of our partners to open the production of the Russian vaccine at the Torlak Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Serums in Belgrade.
“The development of relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Serbia in modern conditions is of mutual importance. The healthcare sector is the life and health of millions of people. Therefore, increasing the price and assortment availability of medicines for the population of our countries, as well as the introduction of modern medical technologies, will help not only improve the level of health, but also improve the quality of life of Serbs and Russians. I am sure that joint projects for the production of pharmaceutical products will allow us to get closer to our goals,” Victor Dmitriev concluded.