Serbia pays high price for not sanctioning Russia: Vucic

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Serbia is paying a high price for not jumping on the bandwagon of sanctions that have been imposed by the West on Russia, according to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. 

"The price we are paying is enormous. We effectively have no access to the capital market ... There is an issue of loans, the so-called roll-overs, given the situation in Ukraine, [Serbia will] have a forced deficit of 3 to 4% and will have to offset it as well ... In the end, all this hits salaries and pensions," Vucic said on TV Prva, Serbian TV channel. 

The president stressed that Serbia will act independently when it comes to its relations with Russia, and will fight to remain independent when it comes to its foreign policy. 

Belgrade, according to the president, refrained from sanctioning Russia "out of self-respect, out of respect to our country, to the principles of international law." 

He added that the decision was not motivated by energy trade, namely gas price incentives offered by Moscow, since Serbia is losing money due to the drying up of foreign direct investment and other factors is a lot more than the losses it would sustain if gas prices were higher.

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Srbijagas, Serbia's state-owned provider for natural gas, has a functional contract with the Russian Gazprom, with total trade of 6 million cubic meters of gas per day. Though the contract will be expiring on May 31, Serbia hopes to issue a new agreement for the next 10 years.

"My point is to tell the people that we are suffering a lot and terribly because of not introducing sanctions against the Russian Federation. I have no illusions, we would have lived much better if we did. We didn't, because we are acting as an independent country," Vucic said.

Though Vucic said that words should not be interpreted as an announcement for restrictive measures, on May 5, he reaffirmed Serbia's commitment to remaining a neutral state after meeting with Olaf Scholz.

Serbians early March rallied in Belgrade in support of Russia and Serbia has recently vocalized its refusal to join NATO, citing the 1999 killing of Yugoslavian children. 

Vucic, who has recently assumed office for the second term in April, also vowed to prosecute any volunteers participating in the war in Ukraine.