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EBRD to invest an additional €200 million in Serbia

Belgrade, 9 February 2005

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus said after meeting with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Jean Lemierre that the EBRD plans to invest an additional €200 million in Serbia this year.

From left: Jean Lemierre and Miroljub Labus

Labus told a pres conference at the Serbian government building that the EBRD directly invested $650 million in Serbia and a further $1.5 billion in other investments.

According to Labus, today’s talks with Lemierre referred to the improvement and development of the Serbian banking sector with a focus on market-orientation and low interest rates. They also discussed “Greenfield” investments, which should reduce the deficit in foreign trade exchange, as well as further privatisation and restructuring of companies in Serbia.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that they also discussed EBRD’s annual meeting scheduled for May 21 to 23 in Belgrade. The conference will gather over three thousand world bankers and politicians, while Serbia will get the chance to build on its image in world financial circles, Labus said.

Labus expressed expectation that Serbia will get a positive EU accession feasibility study before that, in late March this year.

Lemierre said that apart from economic and investment climate in Serbia, they also discussed the importance of the forthcoming EBRD conference for the region, particularly for Serbia-Montenegro.

He noted that great progress has been made during the past four years, and that Serbia needs to focus on improving infrastructure, restructuring companies that will be competitive in the market, as well as on luring new investment, which will be a chance for creating new jobs.

According to him, EBRD decided to support the reform programme in Serbia through an investment of around €2 billion in the private sector so far. This is a strong partnership that needs to be rooted in political decisions, Lemierre said.