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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Germany provides €89m for development in 2008

Belgrade, 17 October 2008

Serbian Minister of Finance Diana Dragutinovic and Head of Basic Issues of Cooperation with Central, East and South Europe Directorate at the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development Leo Kreuz signed today minutes of negotiations concerning cooperation in development for 2008.

From left: Georg Enzweiler, Leo Kreuz and Diana Dragutinovic

Speaking at a press conference, Dragutinovic said that according to the document Germany will provide assistance worth €89 million to Serbia for development this year.

The Minister said that the German development bank will provide a €45 million loan under very favourable terms, and the German organisation for technical cooperation GTZ will take part in projects costing €9 million.

She said that €70 million from these funds will be set aside for energy projects, €55 million for water supply systems, €4 million for sustainable development and employer incentives and €5 million for strengthening public administration, primarily local self-governments.

According to Dragutinovic, Germany provided €600 million to Serbia for development in the period from 2000 to 2007.

Minister-Counsellor at the German embassy in Serbia Georg Enzweiler said that together with the recently provided funds total German assistance to Serbia stands at nearly €700 million.

If help worth €400 million provided by Germany through joint EU funds is taken into account then Germany becomes one of the largest donators to Serbia, said Enzweiler.

He said that Germany considers Serbia to be a country that is located in the very heart of Europe and supports its speedy EU integration; therefore it welcomes the Serbian government’s decision to unilaterally implement the transitional trade agreement.

Kreuz emphasized the importance of German assistance in expert training for youth, saying that five new courses have been established in cooperation with economics schools in 37 cities.

Assistant Minister of Finance Gordana Lazarevic said that Germany and Serbia also have an agreement that Serbia’s debt to Germany can be exchanged for investments in environmental protection.

Lazarevic said that according to this agreement Germany wrote off €25 million of Serbia’s debt, and the Finance Minister has submitted an application for writing off a further €20 million, in exchange for a €7 million investment in energy efficiency.