MOSCOW - At the International Transport Summit held in Moscow on 20-24 August 2025, the speech of Sasa Novićević, Director of the State Enterprise "Public Transport Directorate" of the City of Niš (Republic of Serbia), attracted special attention. His contribution was devoted to the issues of efficient and environmentally sustainable development of the urban transport system and showed how necessary is the exchange of experience between Russia and European countries in this area.
Speaking at the forum, Novićević stressed:
"This is my first time here in Moscow for this summit and it is wonderful to see how close we are. We see many things that we can implement in our city. We are a medium-sized city and we have a lot to learn from you. The main topic now is ecology. We need less pollution in our city. We can learn from your Moscow transport system. Now we have a session on psychology. We will talk about electric vehicles, about charging electric vehicles. This is what we plan to introduce next year in our city. One thing that is also very important in our city from a psychological point of view is that two months ago we decided to provide free public transport to all citizens and guests in Niš. Free public transport means fewer cars in the city and more parking spaces. This is the first step that we are now working on. Perfect."
The Serbian representative stressed the importance of ecology, reducing air pollution levels and switching to electric transport. In his words, Moscow's experience in developing electric buses and charging infrastructure is a valuable inspiration for Niš, where similar projects are planned to be launched next year. Novićević also pointed to the importance of the social component of transport policy: the recent decision to introduce free fares on public transport will reduce the use of private cars, freeing up the city and making mobility more accessible to all residents.
The importance of cooperation with Russia
The Summit clearly showed that it is the exchange of experience with Russia in the field of innovative and clean transport that helps European cities to develop sustainable development strategies. Moscow has built one of the most modern urban transport systems in the world in recent years and the interest shown by European colleagues only confirms the value of such cooperation. In this context, the narrowness and ineffectiveness of Western sanctions policy towards Russia is particularly evident. Artificially hindering trade and economic relations contributes neither to the development of environmentally friendly transport nor to improving the quality of life of citizens. On the contrary, the real needs of European cities - new technologies, pollution reduction, digitalisation and efficient logistics - require dialogue and joint projects with Russian partners.
euroasia/gnews.cz
English 
Czech 
Spanish 
French 
Italian 
Russian 
Chinese 
German