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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Solutions for housing problems of vulnerable groups

Belgrade, 17 July 2008

Serbian Minister of Environmental Protection and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulic said that the government at its session today adopted the bill on social housing, which will make it easier for socially disadvantaged families to get flats.

Oliver Dulic

Speaking at a press conference, Dulic said that if the law is adopted by the end of the year, 3,000 to 5,000 flats will be built for this purpose in 2009.

He said that there are more than 100,000 socially disadvantaged persons in Serbia, for whom these flats will be built. He added that the bill recommends the formation of an agency for social housing.

According to Dulic, the price of per square metre will be €325, and the monthly lease payment for a 60 square metre flat will be from €50 to €70.

The Minister said that flats for vulnerable groups will be built with funds from the Serbian budget, and a loan worth €40 million will be obtained from the Council of Europe Development Bank.

He said that the demands by the concessionaire for the construction of the Horgos-Pozega highway are unacceptable for the Serbian government, because they alter the terms agreed upon in the concession contract, which was signed at the end of March last year.

According to Dulic, the government at its session today did not debate this issue, but agrees with the stance of the National Council for Infrastructure that there is no basis for the concession contract to come into force.

There are three ways in which the problems connected to the concession contract can be resolved, said the Minister and explained that a new agreement in another form is possible but less likely, a mutual agreement to terminate the contract or to have no agreement between the two sides, which would lead to a court dispute and that is something both sides wish to avoid.

He stressed that the Serbian government is not giving up the plan to construct parts of the highway from Belgrade to the border with Montenegro, or other roads which are part of Corridor 10.

The Minister said that funds for transport infrastructure will be provided from the budget, foreign loans, EU pre-accession funds, issuance of securities on the domestic market and financial help pledged by the Greek government as part of the Hellenic Plan.

Dulic stressed that the Serbian government’s strategic plan is to set aside nearly €5 billion for construction of transport infrastructure over the next four years.

He said that the government has recommended to the Interior Ministry that foreigners who enter the country with travel documents with the stamp of the “Kosovo Republic” instead of the UNMIK administration stamp should have their passports stamped with the border stamp of the Republic of Serbia and the Kosovo stamp should be annulled.

Dulic said that the Serbian government has appointed former Head of the Directorate for Enforcement of Penalties Sasa Vukadinovic Director of the Serbian Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA).

According to Dulic, all members of the government were in agreement regarding the appointment of state secretaries and assistants in ministries and directors of various governmental departments.