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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

We will fight with all legal and diplomatic means for Kosovo-Metohija to remain within Serbia

Belgrade, 28 May 2007

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said in an interview with daily Glas Javnosti that we will fight with all legal and diplomatic means for Kosovo-Metohija to remain within Serbia as well as for Serbia’s speedier EU accession.

The official website of the government brings excerpts from the interview.

Will Russia persevere in insisting on inviolability of borders?

There is much speculation, but in two important meetings that Vladimir Putin had with Condoleezza Rice and Angela Merkel it was concluded that Russia remains faithful to UN Security Council 1244 desiring that Belgrade and Pristina reach a compromise solution. The government of Serbia appreciates Russia’s position and hopes that more UN Security Council members will share this position.

You announced that negotiations with the EU will resume in three to four weeks, for which operational cooperation with The Hague is necessary.

I expect negotiations, and the very arrival of EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn eight hours upon appointment of the new government was a clear signal. They will check whether the Council for National Security started functioning and will require operational cooperation. Carla del Ponte will visit Serbia in early June and I expect that we will be positively assessed after that and after some other confirmations from the government.

When will that council start to function?

Very quickly so that we manage to resume negotiations by the year’s end.

Has the draft budget been completed?

The Ministry of Finance should present the new draft budget before the government on June 7 that we will adopt on June 14. In that way we will fulfill a series of promises, from abolition of tax on the purchase of first apartment, reduction of VAT on computers from 18% to 8%, abolition of participation on A1 list of medicines and granting €100 per hectare of sown land.

What will become of the National Investment Plan?

The National Investment Plan will be reformed. The National Investment Plan has finally been incorporated into the budget. We agreed to expel everything that private capital can finance. If the money is used for current expenses – salaries and pensions, we would spend all that generations have been making for decades. We want to use those funds for the future generations, to build roads, to digitalise networks, to modernise the railways and to invest in human resources, in their education.

Collection of taxes and contributions is very poor.

In the first six months there was a surplus of approximately RSD 25 billion in the budget owing to collection of the value added tax on imported goods and the record foreign trade deficit. There is more money in other funds too because taxes and contributions by the state and public companies have been paid more, but all that is public consumption that burdens the economy and increases the deficit. As much as 70% of the young are either not registered as employed, or are registered as receiving the minimum wage. That is why we have to strengthen labour inspections. We cannot forgive employers anymore. Of course, the aim is not to close down companies and cut jobs, but to find the right measure for the payment of contributions.

What is the strategy on the privatisation of public companies?

We have made an agreement to make a unique decision concerning all public companies until summer. This political elite has a great challenge and that is to conceive the future for the next twenty years or so and to use the resources, management and the market in the best way. These companies should be turned into driving forces of development and even into regional leaders. We must not succumb to the pressure of some local or international business circles, who want either a quick commission or large profits. The government is the one that should show what the state's long-term interest is, in the name of all citizens.

Are there interested buyers for Jat Airways?

It is not easy to privatise air companies. We should first see what our interest is. Everyone wants to be the centre of the region, Zagreb, Sofia, Bucharest. If we want that, we have to secure that a gas pipeline and oil pipeline go through Serbia, to make the Danube fit for transport, to make a cargo centre at the airport. It is important to find a strategic partner who will want to realise that vision together with us.

Who will be the minister for attracting foreign investment?

Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic and me, but other ministers as well, and also the president of Serbia. Dinkic will work at the level of companies and privatisations and me at the level of states.

When a restitution law will be adopted?

That law is currently under preparation. Unfortunately, that cannot be done in the way former minister of international economic relations Milan Parivodic suggested because large sums of money would be needed for paying compensation instead of returning property. We will have to find a reasonable solution.