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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Government adopts measures for boosting employment

Belgrade, 12 May 2011

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said that the Serbian government adopted today measures for boosting employment and expressed hope that they will give fruit in the months to come.

Nebojsa Ciric, Mirko Cvetkovic and Slobodan Homen

Cvetkovic said at a press conference held after the government session that these measures include exemptions for employers who hire new employees or move those working in the informal economy into legal channels. They also apply to the private sector, or companies in which at least 50% of the capital is private.

The new measures should reduce expenditures of employers from the private sector in order to boost employment.

Cvetkovic explained that this will not create deficit in the budget, but rather will bring in additional revenues from newly-employed workers.

The Prime Minister underlined that the government prepared a whole set of measures to support the economy and agriculture, and that certain measures will be applied to relax credit indebtedness of the economy similar to those already in place for citizens.

He said that the text of the law on restitution is in the final stage of preparation and should be released to public in the weeks to come, adding that before that it will be submitted to European partners for consultation.

Minister of Economy and Regional Development Nebojsa Ciric explained that the measures for boosting employment adopted by the government envisage that for new employees under 30 and over 45 years of age, the employer will be exempted from paying income tax and contributions for pension insurance.

These measures will be applied as of the next government session, Ciric said and added that strict control mechanisms have been put in place for employers who decide to take on new workers and get tax reliefs in exchange. The control of the number of employees will be conducted by the Tax Administration, the National Employment Service and the Labour Inspection.

The Tax Administration, in cooperation with the Serbian Fund for Pension and Disability Insurance will make regular checks of the calculation of taxes and contributions for the newly employed, the Minister said.

Serbian government’s Media Relations Coordinator Slobodan Homen said that the government decided today to form a crisis response team for addressing emergency situations, headed by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic.

The purpose of setting up this team is to make Serbia better equipped and ready to react in case of any natural disaster, Homen explained.

The government also decided today to provide the additional RSD 97 million for assistance to Kraljevo, for the clean-up of consequences of the earthquake that took place in November last year.

The government adopted the Bill on the young, he said and specified that 20% of Serbia’s population are young people aged between 15 and 30. The EU’s projection is that by 2050 Europe’s young population will shrink by 5% and there is a need to regulate this field systematically and help the young, Homen said.