Energy is at the center of the strategic dialogue between Serbia and the USA. New investments and technological cooperation are expected. Experts estimate that this could bring us some benefit, but also impose new geopolitical elections
Serbia managed to initiate a strategic dialogue with United States of America, and the President of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia, Ana Drašković, said that it will enable new investments and the exchange of technologies.
The ambitions of Serbia to become a regional center for the development of high technologies and artificial intelligence, with announcements of large investments, but can Serbia really benefit from these agreements?
Drašković reminded Radio Television of Serbia that two memorandums of understanding on academic cooperation and cooperation in the field of energy have already been signed as part of the strategic dialogue, where the first concrete steps can be expected.
She also pointed out that the strategic dialogue between Serbia and the United States of America represents an important step towards strengthening the economic relations between the two countries, and that there is a large scope for cooperation with American investors, primarily in the modernization of infrastructure, the development of new energy sources, transmission systems and the application of modern technologies.
He adds that American companies have so far invested close to five billion dollars in Serbia and employed around 22.000 people.
Economist Saša Đogović tells Vreme that it is good to have a strategic dialogue, but that it is not a strategic partnership, and that the intention here is to initiate investments in energy sector, where the emphasis is on gas interconnections and the Đerdap hydroelectric plant.
"The strategic dialogue refers to a specific topic, it is more sector-oriented and has some economic character. In this case, it is predominantly about the energy sector, where the goal of the USA is to squeeze the Russian side out of this market and the Western Balkans region," says Đogović.
He adds that Serbia also has an interest in the whole story.
"Serbia will get new investments, new energy power in our domestic production, some new employment and an increase in competitive strength. We don't have enough electricity, especially if we are going to develop artificial intelligence. We import super computers in Kragujevac, which consumes a lot of money. If you want some new foreign direct investments with a high technological position, they will additionally ask you for electricity", explains Đogović.
Đogović points out that the Americans should focus on their LNG (liquefied natural gas).
"In this sense, concrete work should be started on the southern interconnection between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. We also need to speed up the interconnection with North Macedonia, where LNG would be imported via Greece, but not only to Serbia, but to Central and Eastern Europe. Serbia is a represented geographical point in one puzzle of creating the greatest possible energy presence of the USA in Europe", explains Đogović.
He points out that it is "surprising" that the European Union has not pushed these topics more.
"We see that there are different dissonant tones between the European Union and the United States of America and their different interests. The European Union is trotting because of its impotence. They should have been proactive and launched those projects themselves much earlier, without waiting for the Trump administration to appear as a wedge in this region, which will primarily protect its economic interests," he adds.
For him, it would not be surprising if Serbia, due to the fact that it is deficient in electricity, and there has been talk of new renewable sources for some time, "enters into a deal" with the Americans for the construction of a modular nuclear reactor.
"That would not be surprising if we want to develop artificial intelligence, but in that sense we will need to make a departure from the Chinese side. These are, after all, two different and opposing geopolitical poles. We will still have to make a certain choice", Đogović concludes.
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