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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbian government has done a lot during three years of its mandate

Belgrade, 31 December 2006

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in an interview to New Year edition of Politika daily that this government has done a lot during the three years of its mandate, especially in several fields in which the progress is most visible.

Vojislav Kostunica

Author: Fonet

The Serbian government's official website brings excerpts from this interview:

Fields in which greatest progress has been made:

- GDP in 2006 has increased by more than 6% and in the years to come that trend will continue. Investments worth $6.5 billion over the past three years are also encouraging, of which $4 billion have been made in 2006 alone. Another important field in which progress has been made is the adoption of the Constitution and the fight against corruption. The institutions which are of crucial importance, the police and the judiciary, have done a lot in that field. That can be seen from the big cases of corruption and organised crime that have been brought before courts. I wish that more had been done with respect to that, but it is enough that that fight against corruption and organised crime has been launched.

When compared with the results achieved, is the price that we have paid to achieve higher employment too high?

- That is an issue that always can be discussed and all questions and dilemmas are legitimate. There is no doubt that we had to pay a price. After all, it should be taken into account that in this entire problem there is a fact that so far has not been mentioned, and that is that the arrangements with international financial institutions that we had determined many things. Perhaps we could have done better, but a price had to be paid. I believe that we did not have much free space in many things and that we could not have done more. In any case, we managed to create all preconditions for a strong economic development, which will first of all boost employment.

What will happen with privatisation of large systems, such as the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) and the Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS), and will the state keep some share in them?

- Yes. In case of large, strategic public companies, it is sure that the state will keep some share in them. In other cases it could have been done otherwise. We inherited such a situation. Speaking about sugar industry and the sale of large companies far below their price, those cases did not happen during our government, but before. There were no cases of sale of three factories for one euro, of one factory for three euros, but in any case, speaking about public companies I am sure that errors that were made in other post-communist countries, of which some already became members of the European Union, will not be made here. I think that every new government will protect those companies.

Results of the investigation of controversial privatisations:

- There are cases that were brought before the courts and in some cases we encountered acquired rights and things that cannot be corrected. There were also complications related to the issues of debits and credits, which lead to disputes among several countries. I believe that we disentangled those problems in the best way, always respecting the law.

Influence of powerful people with enormous capital on political factors:

- Speaking about the Serbian government, such an influence on its politics and decisions does not exist. There are no owners of big companies, rich people and tycoons who are privileged by this government. On the other hand, in every society there is an incessant struggle of influences, so such a thing exists in Serbia as well, just as there is an influence of every citizen who can influence government's politics with their vote.

Is Bogoljub Karic one of the tycoons who "fell" the moment he entered politics?

- Time has to pass so that things could be seen more clearly, but as far as Mobtel is concerned, the government set up a commission to establish the real ownership structure much before the Karic case opened. We started with that. We are being reproached in the same way for other attacks to certain mafia groups. For such a confrontation with organised crime and mafia we needed time to organise everything. You cannot confront all mafia groups at the same time and in a few days.

Why the key players of all those affairs are still out of the reach of law?

- That requires some time as well. There are many cases in countries which have stronger institutions and stronger judiciary that such people were outside the reach of law even for decades. But what matters is that the confrontation with mafia has begun and that it will not stop. Many of those thing had been started before we knew when the elections would take place. That is the first thing that should be taken into account, and the second is the famous saying - better late than never.

Would the cooperation with the Hague tribunal have been resolved more easily if Brussels had encouraged us instead of calling off negotiations on stabilisation and association?

- I think that atmosphere would be different. It is simple. Every job is done better if it is followed by encouragement. Because in such case even those who oppose to that are discouraged.

Your advisor Vladeta Jankovic says that some Western circles pressure you to say at the national television that Ratko Mladic will be arrested:

- I did that several times, especially at one press conference, and a few times after that, and then we sent the documentation about that from the Serbian government's website in English to those who claimed that I had not said that. I was saying that cooperation with the Hague tribunal needs to be brought to an end, to locate Mladic and hand him over to the Hague tribunal. But the solution is not in what someone will say.

Are you satisfied with the work of security services when it comes to cooperation with the Hague tribunal?

- I am satisfied with what has been done in the past few months since that activity was transferred to Special prosecutor for War Crimes Vukcevic and President of the National Council Ljajic. A coordination has been achieved and official Brussels noted that. On the other hand, we should not fool ourselves. There are neighbouring countries which also look for war criminals, in which there are many armies and intelligence services and they have done nothing. As you could see from the reports of Carla del Ponte, she commented on the lack of cooperation from those services. But I have to say that she was most discreet when it comes to services of UNMIK and Kfor. Her comments on them are hardly visible, but to put it simply, that is a responsibility that others share with us. We are not the only ones involved in that.