Q:
A:
Ten tenders and 140 auctions by end-2004
Jagodina,
3 September 2004
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus announced today that ten tenders and 140 auctions for privatisation of companies will be called by the end of the year.
Speaking with businessmen of the Pomoravlje District at the Juhor meat factory, Labus pointed out that public subsidies are not a bottomless well, but only a form of assistance to enterprises to stay alive until they are restructured.
The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister said that it is very important that Serbian firms, who are debtors to the state and public companies, be financially consolidated. He said that the previous ministers of privatisation and finance conducted different policies, so the minister of finance wanted to recover all debts, and the minister of privatisation to write them off.
"Now both ministers conduct a coordinated policy, which is clear", said Labus. He explained that if a successful privatisation requires that the state write off all debts, then the state will do that and thus contribute to financial consolidation, which then must lead to restructuring.
He said that the price, although important, is not the most important, but the number of future investments and the quality of social welfare programmes.
Labus said that the government struggles to maintain stable economic conditions, "although we are pressured by the prices of oil, gas, energy products and non-ferrous metals". He added that the government's goal is to keep the inflation rate below ten percent.
"We managed to reduce prices in August, and I hope that a price rise in the upcoming months will be insignificant", Labus said.
He said that the government is not hiding the fact that an insufficient number of companies have been privatised in the first six months of the year. He specified that there were only five tenders and 68 auctions, and the privatisation pulled in only €68 million in revenues.
The Deputy Prime Minister visited Jagodina today, where he spoke with representatives of the Kablovi cable factory and Pivara brewery from Jagodina, the Paracinka sweets factory from Paracin, the Popovac cement plant, the Kompresor factory, Mladost from Cuprija, as well as representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises, about the current state of the economy and agriculture.
During his visit to Jagodina, Labus will visit successful farmer Dragisa Milicevic and his estate in the village of Mali Popovic.
The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister said that it is very important that Serbian firms, who are debtors to the state and public companies, be financially consolidated. He said that the previous ministers of privatisation and finance conducted different policies, so the minister of finance wanted to recover all debts, and the minister of privatisation to write them off.
"Now both ministers conduct a coordinated policy, which is clear", said Labus. He explained that if a successful privatisation requires that the state write off all debts, then the state will do that and thus contribute to financial consolidation, which then must lead to restructuring.
He said that the price, although important, is not the most important, but the number of future investments and the quality of social welfare programmes.
Labus said that the government struggles to maintain stable economic conditions, "although we are pressured by the prices of oil, gas, energy products and non-ferrous metals". He added that the government's goal is to keep the inflation rate below ten percent.
"We managed to reduce prices in August, and I hope that a price rise in the upcoming months will be insignificant", Labus said.
He said that the government is not hiding the fact that an insufficient number of companies have been privatised in the first six months of the year. He specified that there were only five tenders and 68 auctions, and the privatisation pulled in only €68 million in revenues.
The Deputy Prime Minister visited Jagodina today, where he spoke with representatives of the Kablovi cable factory and Pivara brewery from Jagodina, the Paracinka sweets factory from Paracin, the Popovac cement plant, the Kompresor factory, Mladost from Cuprija, as well as representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises, about the current state of the economy and agriculture.
During his visit to Jagodina, Labus will visit successful farmer Dragisa Milicevic and his estate in the village of Mali Popovic.
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