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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

586 mln dinars to be set aside for constitution referendum

21 September 2006

Belgrade, Sept 21, 2006 –Serbian Minister of Finance Mladjan Dinkic said that a total of 586 million dinars will be set aside from the budget for the organisation of the referendum for the new Serbian constitution.

Mladjan Dinkic

Dinkic told a press conference that of that sum, 219 million will be allocated for workers in charge of the organisation of the referendum.

According to Dinkic, parliamentary parties will distribute 150 million dinars according to proportional representation in parliament while the government’s Office of Media Relations will receive 125 million dinars for the media campaign.

Dinkic pointed to the urgent necessity of passing the constitution so that the Serbian statehood could be rounded up and pave the way for the country’s European integration.

The Minister expressed expectation that the budget revision and the amendment to the 2006 Budget Law will be discussed in parliament next week.

The government passed today three finance-related bills, namely the Bill amending the Law on property tax, the Bill amending the Law on excises and the Bill amending the Law on customs fees, he added.

He pointed out that the government accepted the draft of the debt settlement agreement between Serbia and Germany, that is, between the Serbian Ministry of Finance and German bank KfW.

In this way, Germany will write off Serbia’s €25 million debt, in exchange for Serbian investment in a €5.5 million environmental project, Dinkic said.

He said that in the same way the debt exchange programme with the Paris Club of creditors will be implemented, and stressed the importance of Germany’s participation in this project.

The Minister also stated that the Decree on granting national pensions to prominent artists has been brought and explained that the monthly amount will not be below 100,000 dinars.

The criteria for granting the pensions will be the authority of a special nine-member commission, he explained.

At the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Sport, the government decided to award Serbian medal winners with a total of €232,500 for four groups of sportsmen, Dinkic said.

Zoran Loncar

Serbian Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Zoran Loncar said today in the press conference that the government made a further step with a view of passing the new constitution and organisation of the forthcoming referendum by amending the budget revision.

He stressed that the work on the constitution is intensive and that all parliamentary parties are showing good will, resolve and have a completely constructive approach to pass the new constitution soon.

He added that as far as Kosovo-Metohija is concerned, the government insists on respect of international law, but also stressed that the province must be defended through Serbian legislation.

The Minister expressed belief that the result of the referendum that will follow the adoption of the constitution will show that a great majority of Serbian citizens supports the constitution and for Kosovo-Metohija to remain within borders of Serbia.