Presidents of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev held the first session of the Strategic Partnership Council and outlined the priorities of the economic bloc – from energy and investment to trade, agriculture and tourism, Serbian Economist reports.
The key practical outcome was the formalization of a package of bilateral documents. Seven agreements and memoranda were exchanged in Belgrade, including agreements on the design, construction and operation of a gas turbine power plant in Serbia, cooperation in the field of food security, a memorandum between the ministries of economy, as well as documents on media and communications, culture (for 2026-2030), sports and interaction of health insurance systems.
The leaders explicitly call energy cooperation the basis for the next step – electricity production based on Azerbaijani gas. Aliyev said Baku has decided to increase natural gas exports to Serbia, linking this to plans for electricity generation and potential future exports.
In the Serbian interpretation, the gas-fired power plant project is already tied to the parameters: Vucic said that Srbijagas and SOCAR are in discussions, and the goal is to reach the launch of the plant with an installed capacity of 500 MW by 2029 (locations are considered in the Niš area).
Against the backdrop of the political increase in the level of relations, the sides are once again returning to the issue of trade turnover. According to the Serbian National Statistics Office, the foreign trade turnover with Azerbaijan in 2024 amounted to $512.6 million (5-fold growth), with the main contribution provided by the purchase of crude oil and oil products.
Baku, for its part, estimates trade turnover in 2025 at $135 million and notes the growth of imports of Serbian goods by 55% – this data was cited by Azerbaijani Finance Minister Sahil Babayev on the eve of the visit.
It was also noted at the Council meeting that direct flights between Baku and Belgrade should start in May 2026, which is expected to strengthen tourism and business contacts.
In the coming months, governments and line ministers should “land” political agreements in the form of concrete projects. Vucic and Aliyev have publicly recorded that they expect quick results before the next visit of the Serbian president to Azerbaijan during this year.
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