Serbia reforms to increase investment

The Serbian government will insist on a number of structural reforms aimed at creating a more attractive economic environment for local and foreign investmentors, said Milenko Dzeletovic, coordinator of the Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) Economic Council, as reported by Tanjug, a Serbian news wire, April 9.

“A set of over 20 regulations has been prepared for urgent approval,” said Dzeletovic, as cited by Tanjug. “Restructuring of public enterprises with a view to increasing their efficiency and cost reduction is one of the main goals. Companies with no market prospects will be shut down with redundancy programs for employees, as there is no more money in the budget to further fund them.”

Dzeletovic also added that the deadline for the restructuring of 514 companies will be extended so that a substantial number of state-owned enterprises can be privatized after the new regulations on privatization is adopted.

“Negotiations with potential strategic partners that have expressed interest in a significant number of state enterprises are already underway,” Dzeletovic said, as cited by the news wire.

The government also plans to continue the policy of zero tolerance for tax avoidance and introduce stricter rules of countering the grey economy. Implementation of the tax administration reform in order to improve tax collection, as well as to shut down all unnecessary state agencies, institutes and funds are also planned, said Dzeletovic, as reported by the new wire.

“The third set of new regulations refers to providing a number of incentives aimed at boosting employment, which is primarily intended to motivate the private sector, the entrepreneurs, to strongly increase job creation,” pointed out Dzeletovic, as cited by Tanjug.

When asked about the main goal of planned changes, Dzeletovic said that the reforms aim on increasing the volume and quality of investments in Serbia, on creating new enterprises and improving the existing ones.

“The new laws will make Serbia an attractive investment destination, and considering that we are an EU neighboring country and that we have an exclusive free-trade agreement with the Russian Federation and a good geographical position, all preconditions for higher FDI inflows would be created,” he pointed out, as cited by the news wire.

Dzeletovic also said that the new labor-related laws and regulations on bankruptcy and privatization will be adopted within a set time frame and with the consent of trade unions that participate in legal drafting groups.

Photo courtesy of Konrad Zielinski