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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Government achieves most impressive results in fight against organised crime

Belgrade, 22 December 2006

Serbian Prime Minister Vojilsav Kostunica said today that the government achieved most impressive results in the fight against organised crime in the previous period, and pointed to the fact that without fighting corruption and organised crime there can be no stable institutions and a legal state.

Vojislav Kostunica at today's press conference

Speaking at a press conference held to present the work of the Serbian government during the past 1000 days, Kostunica cited as a good example of the fight against corruption and organised crime today’s action of identifying and arresting 15 employees in the Customs Administration, who defrauded the state budget of more than €5 million.

The Prime Minister recalled several other instances of the fight against corruption, and gave the example of Mobtel, where criminal charges were filed against 36 persons who defrauded the state of €200 million, or the “bankruptcy mafia” case in which criminal charges were brought against 41 persons, who caused a state loss of €50 million.

Similarly, several persons were arrested due to crime in the area of transport and insurance, where the state was defrauded of nearly €1 million. Confronting the “road mafia” led to the arrest of 61 persons, who misappropriated amounts worth €15 million, while in the fight against “customs mafia” 44 persons were arrested, who defrauded the state of €10 million, said Kostunica. He added that criminal procedures have also been initiated against 12 judges.

He pointed to the success achieved in the fight against the “drug mafia”, and added that during the previous three years Serbian police confiscated 1300 kilograms of heroin, which is more than the total amount confiscated in all countries of the region.

Speaking on the economic results achieved by the government during its term of office, and particularly in the previous year, Kostunica said that the pace of reforms in Serbia during 2006 accelerated in the proper direction, which is confirmed by the assessment of the World Bank and other relevant international institutions that Serbia is a regional leader regarding the speed of reforms implemented.

He said that besides the facts that record foreign investments worth €4 billion and a high 6% rate of GDP growth marked this year, one of the major successes includes the signing of the Memorandum on construction of a gas pipeline through Serbia.

According to Kostunica, this contract worth €1 billion will contribute to a stable supply of gas and create employment.

The Serbian Prime Minister pointed to the fact that one more important agreement was reached with the Russian government, which is the agreement on the clearing debt of $288 million between Serbia and Russia, through which new investments will be secured.

Government achieves most impressive results in fight against organised crime

He added that the free trade agreement between Serbia and Russia should not be forgotten, which will send an additionally positive message to foreign investors after it is ratified by the Russian Duma.

Kostunica also recalled the recent signing of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) in Bucharest, which will allow Serbian economy to strengthen further and lead to an increase in exports to CEFTA member countries, whereas a major bulk of 32% of Serbian exports are already directed to these countries.

One of the landmarks in positive economic growth in Serbia is the first ever participation of the domestic company “Telekom Srbija” in an international tender sale for the purchase of the company “Telekom Srpske”, said Kostunica, and added that regional cooperation between Serbia and Republika Srpska is continuing.

He said in that context that owing to the efforts of the Serbian government, work on the construction of the new bridge near Raca will begin in a few days, and the Serbian company “Delta Osiguranje” participated in the privatisation of “Kosig Dunav Osiguranje” from Banja Luka.

Kostunica stressed that the Serbian government’s projections for economic growth will continue during 2007.

Kostunica recalled that this year major success was achieved in the adoption of the new Constitution and the Constitutional Bill, and added that it was a historical precedent, because the text of the supreme legal act was prepared within a short period of a few months, which was adopted by the government and parliament, and later approved through a referendum.

According to Kostunica, following the government’s recommendation the Serbian parliament adopted more than 250 laws during the past 1000 days, and a big number of laws are going through parliamentary procedure.

He stressed that the new Constitution also defines the position regarding Kosovo-Metohija, and recalled that the Preamble of the Constitution underlines the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, while respecting the principles of the UN Charter and international law.

Speaking on Kosovo-Metohija, the Prime Minister said that it is easy to solve the issue of the province if the solution is sought within the framework of international law, but if international law is overlooked, compromise will be hard to find.

He once again expressed concern due to the position of UN Special Envoy Marti Ahtisaari regarding respect of human rights in Kosovo-Metohija, and recalled that Ahtisaari has not even once condemned violence in the province.

He added that since the negotiation process between Belgrade and Pristina on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija began in Vienna, Ahtisaari attended the meetings only once, in July this year, and by the end of the year the negotiations ceased.

According to Kostunica, the Serbian government’s success lies in the fact that during the previous six years many countries changed their stand regarding the issue of the future status of Kosovo-Metohija and the time required to resolve it, and that during the past few years EU member countries have also begun to support the idea that this issue must not be solved without consulting Belgrade.