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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia is taking determined and bold steps towards Europe

Belgrade/Vranje, 30 September 2005

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in Vranje today that the building of a new British American Tobacco’s (BAT) cigarette plant represents an important investment that will encourage further development of Vranje, southern Serbia, as well as Serbia as a whole.

Kostunica and Bubalo visit new cigarette factory in Vranje

Speaking at a celebration of the opening of the new plant as well as marking the 120 years anniversary of Vranje’s tobacco factory DIV, a member of BAT, Kostunica said that aside from the €30 million investment, BAT also brings in modern technologies, something that Serbia needs badly.

According to Kostunica, BAT had chosen the factory in Vranje for its long tradition and the fact that it was established in a legally valid manner, through a law on monopoly. This means that even in the Serbia from 120 years ago, industrial and economic development must be in accordance with established legal standards.

Kostunica recalled that the beginning of negotiations with the EU on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement is just days away and he stressed that Serbia must be well-arranged internally in order to embark on such a process.

He explained that the country must be arranged in a legal sense, through legislation, and economically, through new technologies, noting that BAT offers this kind of modern technology.

With its law on monopoly and its tobacco industry, Serbia was part of Europe legally and economically even 120 years ago, said Kostunica and added that the country is now entering into a Europe that is organised in a different way but, actually, where it has always been.

Recalling that Ball Packaging Europe opened a large can factory in Zemun yesterday, Kostunica said that Serbia is taking huge, determined and bold steps towards Europe, the place where it has always belonged.

Serbian Minister of Economy Predrag Bubalo opened the new cigarette factory in Vranje, and following the opening ceremony, the Serbian Prime Minister presented the BAT award to the most successful businessman in Vranje for 2005, Radovan Stankovic, the owner of the “Mikromodeli” tailor’s shop.

Deputy Minister of International Economic Relations Vlatko Sekulovic reiterated that the competition for this award was opened in June this year and that the commission consisted of representatives of the Serbian Ministry of International Economic Relations, the Serbian Ministry of Economy, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS), as well as BAT company representatives. He added that this award will become customary.

According to Sekulovic, the criteria for receiving this award, among other things, were the work sector of small enterprises, the development of enterprises in the past 10 years, as well as the enterprise’s ideas for the future.

Serbian government delegation visits Simpo mattress factory in Bujanovac

Following the visit to Vranje, the Serbian government delegation visited Bujanovac where Vojislav Kostunica and Predrag Bubalo laid the cornerstone for Simpo’s new factory, the 13th factory in the Bujanovac municipality region, and the first to produce polyurethane foam.

Kostunica said on that occasion that southern Serbia is of great significance to the Serbian government, and added that all parts of Serbia are developing equally.

A country’s strength is measured by the number of employees, their earnings, but also by the interethnic relations in those regions where members of two different peoples live, said Kostunica and expressed conviction that this factory will contribute to the improvement of relations in the Bujanovac municipality.

He said that what Simpo has achieved so far, as the driving force of development in southern Serbia, is a guarantee that where a cornerstone is laid, that is where a factory will be built and which will provide new working positions.

The Serbian Prime Minister pointed out that this factory will bring in modern technology and a new product which will no longer be imported in Serbia, and with which Serbia will be able to compete with on the foreign market.

In addition to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, export is also important for this region’s development, said Kostunica and pointed out that Simpo is a factory that has a lot to offer, since it is able to export 50 percent of its products.

Predrag Bubalo expressed satisfaction, after laying the cornerstone, with the fact that five new factories have been opened in Serbia, and said that they, in turn, have helped to lay a cornerstone for a new Serbia in this manner.

He pointed out that the Serbian government has not forgotten southern Serbia in these difficult times of transition, and that it is assisting and giving subsidies to municipalities and companies in this region.

Taking into consideration that only a small amount has been achieved concerning the privatisation process in southern Serbia’s municipalities, the Serbian government has adopted a privatisation strategy for the municipalities of Bujanovac, Medvedja and Presevo, said Bubalo and expressed hope that this will contribute to a quicker privatisation process in these municipalities, since the results in these fields have been fairly small.

“We have vigorously started building the foundations of a new Serbia whose place will be in the EU, with which we will soon begin talks on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA)”, concluded Bubalo.