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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Job competition as part of “The First Chance“ programme to be announced tomorrow

Belgrade, 27 January 2010

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic sad today that a competition for employing 16,000 young trainees, through “The First Chance“ programme in 2010, will be announced tomorrow.

Mladjan Dinkic and Vladimir Ilic

Dinkic said at a press conference that the competition will be opened until March 31 and that the Ministry will call on big companies and banks in Serbia to take part in “The First Chance“ programme.

He recalled that 11,000 trainees were employed through this programme last year, for which the state had set aside RSD 1.3 billion. This year the funds have been increased by RSD 500 million.

The novelty of this year’s programme is that in order to get a one-year employment contract, trainees will have a three-month probation period during which they will receive RSD 10,000 on a monthly basis. If they are employed after that, the employer will have to hire them for one more year.

Dinkic said that eligible trainees are young people with a secondary, post-secondary or university degree, below 30 years of age and without any professional experience in their field of study. He added that the competition is only for the employment in the private sector.

The graduate trainees will have a salary of RSD 20,000 per month, those with post-secondary education RSD 18,000 and those with secondary school RSD 16,000. The state will pay contributions on their income, while the employer will pay only income tax, which is 8% of the total costs, Dinkic explained.

He said that at the moment around 517,000 people in Serbia are actively searching for employment, of which number 90,000 are between 25 and 30 years of age. Dinkic noted that Vojvodina will earmark additional funds for employment from its budget to help over 20,000 young people to find jobs.

Director of the National Employment Service Vladimir Ilic stressed that companies willing to hire a larger number of young trainees after they have completed their probation period will have better odds at the competition.

Ilic said that employers with up to ten employees will be entitled to two volunteers, and those with more employees to 20% of their total number of staff, adding that during the programme these employers will not be allowed to lay off any staff.

At the conference Dinkic voiced expectation that during the course of the year the dinar exchange rate will be relatively stable against the euro, noting that current fluctuations in the exchange rate are not a reason for concern.

Serbia’s foreign currency reserves are at a record level and increased demand for foreign currencies is the result of the economic recovery that is beginning to set in Serbia, he explained.

Income from VAT on import in January went up by 6% against January 2009, while VAT income in GDP is higher by around 7%, the Minister specified adding that these are unequivocal signs of the recovery of the Serbian import and industrial production.