Big Trade Between Serbia and its Neighbors

Belgrade, Dec.1, 2009 (Serbia Today) - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic said today that the Serbian government will provide suitable political and financial support to companies doing business in the markets of the former Yugoslav republics.
Speaking at the forum “Economic Cooperation between Former Yugoslav Republics”, Dinkic said that last year Serbia’s trade with former Yugoslav republics stood at nearly EUR 4.4 billion.
He said that in 2008, Serbia had a surplus in trade with these countries, adding that exports stood at EUR 2.8 billion and imports at EUR 1.6 billion.
Dinkic said that 37% of Serbia’s exports go to the former Yugoslav republics, while imports from these republics are 11% of Serbia’s total imports, adding that the volume of trade with Bosnia-Herzegovina is the largest.
Dinkic said that the trade with Bosnia-Herzegovina stood at EUR 1.35 billion last year, adding that second to that was EUR 1 billion trade with Montenegro, followed by Macedonia, Slovenia and Croatia.
Serbia’s highest goods export is to Bosnia-Herzegovina, while the largest surplus was in trade with Montenegro, followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia, said Dinkic, adding that Serbia has a deficit in trade with Slovenia and Croatia.
Besides trade, another important aspect of economic cooperation between the former Yugoslav republics are investments. Serbia has received the most investment from Slovenia including those by Merkator, Cimos, Merkur, Droga Kolinska and Gorenje, while top Croatian investors are Agrokor and Nexe Group.
He said that Serbia has invested EUR 12 billion in the former Yugoslav republics and its largest investment is by Telekom Srbija in Telekom Srpska, the Serbian companies Hemofarm, Delta and the Commercial Bank have also invested in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Delta and Telekom have made investments in Montenegro, while investments in Slovenia and Croatia are significantly smaller.
Dinkic announced that the government will endorse Serbia’s investment in the Bar Harbour project from the budget since it will be a minority owner in the joint company to be formed with Serbian companies interested in taking part in this project.
He also said that next year Serbia will take over the CEFTA presidency and its main goals will be liberalization of services and public procurement markets.
Dinkic reminded those in attendance that EU 1 billion in subsidized loans were approved this year, of which only EUR 50 million from the budget were allocated for subsidizing interest rates.