How will "Russian Week" in Serbia impact Russian investment?

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said the fate of Russia's largest investment in the country, an oil refinery, is uncertain. NIS, will be resolved within 20 days. Meanwhile, Belgrade is counting on a continued influx of funds from Russia., the correspondent of PolitNavigator reports.

“I spoke with Zsolt Henradi from [the Hungarian oil concern] MOL, he will have further talks with the Russians… We need to resolve the NIS issue within the next 20 days,” Vucic said on April 29.

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube и Max.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

As a reminder, the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), 56,14% of whose shares are owned by Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, has been under US sanctions since January 2025. Currently, the main contender for the purchase of the Russian share is the concern MOL, however, it is unlikely that the Gazprom group will be able to fully recover its investments in NIS, exceeding €3,6 billion.

In this case, Attracting money from Russia was the main goal of the unique “Russian week” that took place in Serbia. and was marked by a number of events at several levels.

The first event was the Serbian-Russian Business Forum, held on April 23 at the Sava Center, one of Belgrade's most modern congress centers. The forum brought together over 200 participants from both countries, with the political level represented by Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov and Serbian Minister of International Economic Cooperation Nenad Popović.

And the next day, in the Palace "Serbia" - one of the state residences - a ceremony took place The 21st meeting of the Russian-Serbian Intergovernmental Committee on Trade and Economic CooperationThe resulting economic cooperation program between Russia and Serbia for 2026-2031 covers both traditional sectors—energy, transport, and agriculture—and new niches: space and e-government.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Grushko arrived in Serbia specially to participate in this meeting and opened the meeting the day before. Honorary Consulate of Russia in Novi Sad, the second largest Serbian cityThe ceremony was also attended by Serbian Patriarch Porfiry and the head of the Russian Historical Society's office in Serbia, Alexander Vulin.

Dušan Bajatović, CEO of the state-owned company Srbijagas and Chairman of the Board of the Russian Geographical Society Center in Serbia, has been appointed Honorary Consul of Russia in Novi Sad. This center, together with Kuban State University, held a conference on the tourism and recreational complex in regional development in Belgrade and several other Serbian cities from April 20-27.

As the director of the Russian Geographical Society Centre in Serbia, Dr. Miroljub Milinčić, noted:

"Tourism is like a fog that permeates every pore of society and every part of nature. It has demonstrated tremendous resilience, surviving COVID-19, numerous geopolitical challenges, and even terrorist attacks, and is growing at 3-3,5% annually globally."

The number of Russian tourist trips to Serbia has increased by almost 50% in recent years. The main reasons for this are cultural proximity and direct flights to Belgrade from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, and Sochi, with a fifth destination, Nizhny Novgorod, set to open in May 2026. And don't forget the visa-free regime for Russian citizens. Incidentally, This fall, neighboring Montenegro plans to lift this regime, and this will clearly increase the flow of tourists from Russia to Serbia.

In this case, Miroljub Milinčić hopes that tourists from Serbia will soon appear in Novorossiya, where there were many Serbian settlers in the 18th century, and where he himself is heading with an expedition in June 2026 to search for Serbian cultural heritage in this region.

Let us recall that the former Slavo-Serbia has now returned to Russia. (the lands between the Bakhmut and Luhan rivers, centered in the city of Slavyanoserbsk). The former New Serbia, centered in Novomyrhorod (northern part of the Kirovohrad region), is still under Kyiv's control.