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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Privatisation, economic restructuring, tax relief as greatest challenges for Serbia

Belgrade/Vienna, 11 January 2005

Serbian Minister of Finance Mladjan Dinkic said that the greatest challenges for Serbia in 2005 are privatisation, a restructuring of the economy and tax relief.

Mladjan Dinkic

At a panel discussion entitled “European Club,” as part of the Economic Forum of Central and Eastern Europe, which takes place in Vienna on January 11 and 12, Dinkic spoke of the Serbian government’s economic policy for 2005 and measures aimed at accelerating the process of EU accession. He said that Serbia’s problems lie in the current transactions abroad. He said that overcoming this problem can be achieved through a speeding up of the privatisation process, corporate restructuring and by luring foreign investments.

Dinkic pointed out that there is a high level of interest in the privatisation of the banking and telecommunications sectors, adding that the telecommunications sector has three options – sale of Mobtel 063, possible privatisation of Telekom 064 and the granting of a third license.

According to him, the telecommunications situation will be cleared up within the next six months, as the ownership status in Mobtel should be resolved by then.

An out-of-court settlement needs to be reached with one of the Mobtel holders, Dinkic said, noting that the state must preserve a majority stake. He said that if that isn’t the case, the state will wait for the arbitration process in Zurich to end, which will occur by autumn at the latest.

He noted that Serbia is the only Southeastern European country that does not have the presence of a large-scale foreign telecommunications company.

The 10th Central and Eastern European Forum gathers over 1,100 financial and corporate leaders, investors, bankers, finance ministers, central bank governors and representatives of international financial institutions.

During the conference, Dinkic is due to meet with his counterparts from other Central and Eastern European countries as well as representatives of sizable worldwide companies.