Joint content production: The Holding and the Ministry of Culture of Serbia have agreed a cooperation roadmap

Today, a delegation from Gazprom-Media Holding, headed by CEO Aleksandr Zharov, made an official visit to Belgrade. During the trip, a meeting was held with the Minister of Culture of Serbia, Nikola Selaković, after which the participants agreed on Serbian support for the creation and development of joint movie and television production and outlined specific steps.

The parties outlined a cooperation roadmap. Potential areas include co-production of television shows and feature films.

The Serbian side showed particular interest in the idea of creating a reality show Survive in... (Vyzhit v...) in Serbia. The project has already been filmed in Dubai, Samarkand, and Istanbul, and has received high ratings from viewers. According to Aleksandr Zharov, each country has its “strengths” that are highlighted in the show: in the UAE, it is hotels; in Uzbekistan and Turkey, it is historical features, madrasas, and mosques; in Serbia, it is beautiful nature, history connected with Russia, and monasteries.

Regarding joint movie production, Aleksandr Zharov emphasized the importance of involving both Serbian and Russian stars in the project so that the film is anticipated by both countries.

“We have made significant progress in preparing the memorandum. This includes screenings of our movies in Serbia at Roskino festivals and local TV broadcasts of movies from the “Rus” historical project cycle created by the Holding with the support of Gazprom: Catherine the Great (Ekaterina Velikaya) and Peter I. The Last Tsar and the First Emperor (Petr I: Posledny tsar i pervy imperator), and much more. And we really like the Slavic approach of our colleagues. After the first meeting, we immediately get down to business!”

Aleksandr Zharov CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding

The Minister of Culture of Serbia, Nikola Selaković, expressed his readiness to facilitate the rapprochement of the cultures of the two brotherly nations and to provide all possible assistance in this matter. In particular, to help in interacting with film producers and major television companies in Serbia.

In turn, Gazprom-Media Holding is ready to assist Serbian colleagues in organizing filming at the sets of Mosfilm, of which it is a resident, as well as in promoting Serbian content on its resources.

The parties agreed to continue the dialogue in the coming months at the Russian-Serbian Cultural Forum in Veliky Novgorod and within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The meeting was also attended by: Lav Pajkić, State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture; Aleksandr Dybal, Chairperson of the Russian Business Council for Cooperation with Serbia, board member of Gazprom Neft, head of the department for corporate communications and regional development of Gazprom Neft; Boris Khanchalyan, Deputy CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding; Aleksandr Kormukhin, Communications Director of Gazprom-Media Holding; Alina Zinnatullina, CEO of the Insight People Production Center; Darya Bogdanova, head of the international department of Gazprom-Media Holding.