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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Annual report on SMEs sector presented

Belgrade, 7 November 2006

Director of the Serbian Development Institute Edvard Jakopin presented today the annual report on the state of small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurship (SMEE) at the second session of the Serbian Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Entrepreneurship.

Jakopin said on the occasion that the number of persons employed in the SMEs sector has increased by 8% compared with previous years, and that a third of the total GDP is being realised through this sector.

According to Jakopin, 70% of total profit is realised in enterprises dealing with trade and the processing industry, nearly two thirds of which comes from firms which are in Belgrade and the South Backa District.

He pointed to the fact that reports by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund state that significant progress was made in this sector regarding the procedure of founding companies, the payment of taxes, and by reducing the number of days required for the import and export of goods.

According to the report on the state of SMEE, there are currently 276,695 firms in Serbia, of which 72,284 are small and 2,452 are medium sized businesses, and 201,959 are shops, specified Jakopin. He added that 1.4 million people are employed in this sector.

Representative of the National Bank of Serbia Zoran Todorovic said that SMEs in Serbia are not fully using the credit lines offered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Italian government, which are available through the National Bank of Serbia.

Todorovic specified that more than €16 million was secured through the EBRD, of which some €7 million is still available, while €65 million was acquired through the EIB, of which only €20 million was given in loans.

According to Todorovic, the situation is similar concerning the credit line provided by the Italian government because there is still a sum of €3.2 million from a previous credit line and €10 million for new loans, while the average sum of loans obtained is €93,000.