The council of the commission of the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) might decide at a meeting in mid March whether to allow the import of 10,000 Fiat 500L cars, manufactured at the FIAT Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) plant in Kragujevac in central Serbia, Russian ambassador to Serbia, Aleksandar Chepurin said on March 16.

For several years, Belgrade has been trying to start exports of Fiat 500Ls Russia, for which it needed approval from all EaEU countries.

Serbia aims to export Fiat 500L vehicles to the EaEU under a free trade agreement signed with Russia in 2000, which states that goods produced in Serbia which have at least 51% value added in the country are considered to be of Serbian origin and can be exported to the Russia duty free. The Fiat 500L, which is manufactured at FCA Serbia’s plant in Kragujevac, meets these requirements.

On March 16 Tanjug quoted Chapurin as saying that some positive steps towards launching Fiat 500L exports to the EaEU had been taken, but no further information was given.

Chepurin said in an earlier interview with Sputnik that exports to Russia are dependent on approval from the other members of the EaEU, and that for issues related to duty free imports or exports within the EaEU, a consensus is always required.

Serbia is the only country outside the Commonwealth of Independent States that enjoys a free trade agreement with Russia, and has so far resisted EU requests to join the economic sanctions imposed on the country over the conflict in Ukraine.