Milorad Dodik said Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed during their meeting at the Kremlin that the price of gas for Republika Srpska would remain unchanged.
Dodik also said the Russian side had expressed interest in expanding cooperation with the Orao Aviation Institute in Bijeljina.
“This concerns expanding certain areas of cooperation. We agreed to move forward with this, and the Russian side will present us with specific possibilities,” Dodik said.
He said this was his 29th meeting with Putin and expressed satisfaction that they had an opportunity to reaffirm cooperation across political, economic and other areas.
“We discussed all the most important topics, and the very fact that the meeting lasted around 50 minutes shows the level of attention devoted to it,” Dodik said.
He added that Russia remained committed to its partnership with Republika Srpska on a range of issues discussed in previous years.
“Our economic cooperation is good and is developing to our mutual satisfaction. There are no disruptions and no organized institutional obstacles,” Dodik said.
According to Dodik, Putin also confirmed Russia’s commitment to continuing cooperation in the gas sector, including plans related to the construction of gas-fired power plants.
Dodik said he proposed establishing a cooperation council involving the presidents and prime ministers of the Russian Federation and Republika Srpska. Under his proposal, the council would meet once a year, preceded by a joint session of the two governments.
“President Putin said he would consider the proposal, and I expect a positive response,” Dodik said.
Speaking about political issues, Dodik said Republika Srpska remained grateful to the Russian Federation for its positions in the UN Security Council.
He said Russia considers externally imposed decisions unacceptable and shares the position that the measures taken by Christian Schmidt have no legal effect.
Dodik argued that whenever BiH was discussed at the UN Security Council, Russia had maintained what he described as an objective rather than partisan position.
He reiterated his view that Republika Srpska’s problem lies with a BiH that, in his assessment, does not correspond to the framework established by the Dayton Peace Agreement.
“Abolish the Court and Prosecutor’s Office, restore our fiscal sovereignty, retain everything that Dayton envisaged for BiH, and we have no problem with BiH. We have a problem with any other BiH, and I believe there is understanding for such a position,” Dodik said.
Dodik also said that during the meeting with Putin it was agreed that Russia would facilitate procedures for Republika Srpska to acquire a large firefighting helicopter.
Source: RTRS
