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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Specifics of public utility companies to be examined before privatisation

Vrsac, 31 March 2006

Serbian Minister of Economy Predrag Bubalo said today that there are more than 500 public utility companies in Serbia. Every city and municipality has its own specific properties, problems and characteristics that should be examined before proper solutions can be reached on the occasion of their privatisation.

At the occasion of a meeting addressing the issues of bankruptcy and privatisation in Vrsac, where he talked on the basic guidelines of privatisation of public utility companies in Serbia, Bubalo pointed out the necessity of examining the source of funds and property of public utility companies, considering that an important part of the infrastructure network has been built with funds from voluntary contributions by citizens and from the budget of municipalities.

He said that for this reason, during the privatisation of public utility companies, it is necessary to protect the rights of citizens and municipalities. He explained that the Agency for Privatisation cannot bring a decision concerning that matter without the consent of cities and municipalities, especially if the company is successfully doing business.

According to Bubalo, local communities should be allowed to participate in decision making when it comes to the choice of buyers, and that in the privatisation process infrastructure facilities must not be sold in order to prevent the new buyer from establishing a monopoly, while municipalities must have a say in decision making so that the owner does not isolate a part of the company.