Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Government strictly demands protection of inviolability of borders

Belgrade, 4 January 2007

Serbian Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Zoran Loncar stated today that the Serbian government explicitly demands protection of the inviolability of state borders, adding that any proposal on this matter is legitimate and legal only if it contemplates a degree and type of autonomy for Kosovo-Metohija within Serbia.

Zoran Loncar

At a regular press conference following the government session Loncar commented the statement in the Viennese newspaper Prese that UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari will propose "monitored independence" for Kosovo-Metohija and said that the Serbian government thinks Ahtisaari's proposal can be legitimate and legal only if it is in line with the UN Charter and international law.

The Serbian government's stance has been stated in a letter to the UN Secretary-General and it is clear: the Serbian government will insist that every state respects its borders, said Loncar and stressed that so far no one has seen Ahtisaari's proposal.

According to Loncar, if Ahtisaari has a clandestine arrangement with ethnic Albanian separatists on some kind of independence of the province, such a proposal is invalid for Serbia, illegitimate and illegal.

He recalled that the UN Charter and the Serbian Constitution are crystal clear, adding that whatever Ahtisaari's proposal may be Serbia will regard Kosovo-Metohija as a constituent part of its territory.

Loncar said that the government set aside around RSD 1.064 billion for financing parliamentary elections scheduled for January 21, adding that parties will be given the funds once election lists are officially declared.

He said that the funds were allocated to Serbian parliament's expert services for carrying out parliamentary elections and to the Serbian Electoral Committee. He also recalled that at midnight on January 5 the deadline for submitting electoral lists will expire.

Predrag Bubalo

Serbian Minister of Economy and coordinator at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Predrag Bubalo stated that out of the projected RSD 33 billion for projects financed by the National Investment Plan, around RSD 9.72 billion was approved in 2006 for about 200 projects which make up only 32% of the planned number.

Bubalo said that in 2006 around 2,300 projects were submitted to the National Investment Plan out of which number the coordinating team approved financing of around 500 projects.

Bubalo specified that out of that number 174 projects are yet to be carried out, adding that additional RSD 700 million has been set aside for these projects, though the projects will be re-examined.

He said that in the first trimester of 2007 there will be no halts in financing projects through the National Investment Plan, though the financing in this period will be temporarily performed from the budget.

According to Bubalo, the rate of projects that will be approved by the National Investment Plan largely depends on the capacity of resource ministries which is why the government decided to increase these capacities.

He said that out of subsidies for agriculture, forestry and water management, RSD 1.53 billion will be set aside for the period January-March primarily for exports.

The government decided today to subsidise around 35 hectares of arable land that was flooded last spring.

The subsidies will amount to RSD 8,000 per hectare, said Bubalo adding that the government set aside RSD 280 million for these purposes.

He said that long-term loans for agriculture will continue to be granted in January and stressed there will be stalls regarding temporary financing from the Serbian budget in the first trimester of 2007.

Bubalo also said it is only a matter of days when export of weapons from Kragujevac weapon maker to Armenia will begin.

There are no hindrances to exporting weapons to Armenia, however there are problems with issuing the licence due to the New Year holidays and technical procedures since the licences must be examined and approved by four ministries.