Serbia sees production of Sputnik V by the year-end - president

By Ivana Sekularac and Aleksandar Vasovic

BELGRADE, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Serbia will invest as much as necessary to start domestic production of Russia's Sputnik V by the end of the year, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday.

A group of Russian experts is expected to visit Serbia next week for talks about local production of the Sputnik V vaccine by the end of the year.

Vucic said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin made an initial agreement about the launch of the production procedure which he described as "complicated and difficult."

With over 530,000 people, or around 7.5% of its population, inoculated against COVID-19, Serbia globally holds the fourth highest vaccination rate per 100 people, behind Israel, Britain and the United States.

(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; editing by David Evans)

((ivana.sekularac@thomsonreuters.com; +381 11 30 44 930; Reuters Messaging: ivana.sekularac.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))