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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Strategic partnership between Ikarbus, Dutch VDL

Belgrade, 17 September 2010

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic, Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas and President of the Managing Board of VDL company Vim van der Leg signed the Memorandum of understanding between Serbia and this Dutch company today.

Vim van der Leg, Mladjan Dinkic and Dragan Djilas

Author: Tanjug

This document envisages formation of a joint company of Ikarbus and the Dutch bus producer under the name VDL Bus Serbia, in which the Dutch company will invest €10 million and Serbia €2.5 million. The joint company in which VDL will have 80% of ownership share and Serbia 20% will have 280 employees and expected revenue of €40 million. Dinkic specified that VDL Bus Serbia which will start with production on 1 January will make approximately 250 buses per year, of which 60% will be intended for exports on the European market.

VDL is the second largest company in the field of automotive industry after Fiat that has come to invest in Serbia. Its annual turnover is €1.3 billion, which is one-fifth of Serbia’s entire exports, Dinkic explained. He recalled that the Serbian government had been looking for a long time for a serious strategic partner for Ikabus that would launch production and modernise the company and it succeeded after six months of negotiations by choosing the best possible partner.

He said that domestic components will be used for the manufacture of buses, noting that this is a good opportunity to buy new buses for Belgrade and other towns in Serbia.

Djilas said that the city will buy 250 buses from Ikarbus and expressed confidence that the domestic manufacturer is now able to form the company developed according to European standards.

The signing of the Memorandum was also attended by the newly-appointed Ambassador of the Netherlands in Belgrade Laurent Stokvis.

Ikarbus had been previously sold to the Russian company Avtodetal-servis for €7.2 million, but the contract was terminated for non-compliance with contractual obligations.