29 December 2020

Preservation of peace, taking care of the health and better living standard are key for Serbia in
2021, underlined President of the Republic Aleksandar Vucic, convinced that even though the
completion of this ambitious and by no means easy task will be anything but straightforward,
best results can be achieved by working in concert with the Government, while ensuring security
and a future of certainty for the citizens.

The President said that Serbia has set for itself great and ambitious goals for the next year,
notwithstanding the complex international and regional circumstances, and that it will endeavour
to fully preserve peace and stability in the region and the country, while safeguarding the vital
national and state interests.

"Serbia will remain on the course of a winning policy - the policy of stability", President Vucic
said and stressed that our country remains on the European integration path and that it will
carefully foster its friendship with Russia and China, while building a friendship with the United
States as well.

According to the President, Serbia will continue to pursue a winning policy, with the country
itself as a top priority, i.e., a policy that will enable Serbia to continue being one of the top three
countries in Europe in terms of growth rate in the next two years.

A precondition for that, the President noted, is to crack down on criminal groups, but also to
ensure even bigger investments in the police and army forces.

"Serbia is the country that recorded the highest growth in Europe in 2020", the President pointed
out at the annual press conference and added that he expects to conclude a new arrangement with
the IMF, as well as that Serbia, by the end of next year or early 2022, will raise its credit rating to
an "investment" one, which will put our country's rating on par with the most developed EU
countries.

As the greatest success in 2020, Vucic noted that Serbia will end the year with the highest
growth rate in Europe, which, as he said, is expected to be from minus 0.75 percent to minus
one.

"I am proud to be the President of a country that is the European champion in terms of GDP",
Vucic pointed out and added that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was also pleased with
Serbia's success.

According to President Vucic, this result will encourage Serbia to accelerate its European path,
while continuing friendships with those who did not turn their backs on Serbia when it was at its
darkest hour, namely Russia and China.

The President pointed out that the activities to attract foreign investors will continue, then that
work will be done on investments in agriculture, primarily the food industry, new machinery,
and digitalization of agriculture.

President Vucic also emphasized that the goal is for salaries in the public sector to average
between 560 and 570 euros by the end of the year. Only in Belgrade, the average salary would be
around 700 euros.

President Vucic reminded that the salaries of health care workers will increase by five percent
from January 1, while the salaries of others in the public sector will increase by 3.5 percent and
an additional 1.5 percent as of April 1, while corporal, private first class and non-commissioned
officer army ranks will get an increase of an additional 10 percent. He noted that the minimum
wage will be increased by 6.6 percent and so will pensions from January 1, by 5.9 percent, with
the plan that the average pension amounts to 270 euros by the end of 2021. The President
especially pointed out investments in health care, reminding that two new covid hospitals have
been opened and that the renovation and construction of health facilities continues throughout
Serbia, while stressing that Serbia is by far the first in the region in terms of hospitalized persons
per 100,000 citizens, which is why it has recorded a low mortality rate , and also that Serbia this
year has been among the top three countries in the region according to the number of PCR tests
performed.

Speaking about tourism, the President said that, next year, efforts will be made on the
development of the Danube basin region, from Apatin to Kladovo, that the Ovcar-Kablar Gorge
will be developed, as well as our mountain centers.

Discussing the field of culture and information, President Vucic said that the implementation of
the media strategy and the completion of the reconstruction of the National Theater in Subotica
are important for next year, and he announced investments in museums, especially emphasizing
the relocation of the History Museum to the train station building. He also stated that the floor
heating in the Church of Saint Sava will be completed next year.

He pointed out that the state will continue to take care of our citizens in Kosovo and Metohija,
that no one can forbid Serbia to help its people, and that Serbia will not give up on helping our
people.

As he emphasized, Serbia is ready to send medicines and vaccines to the Albanian population as
well, and pointed out that in the upcoming period our country will pursue a policy of peace in the
region and will endeavour to cooperate with Zagreb, Sarajevo, Podgorica