Serbia exits recession

Belgrade, May 01, 2010 (Serbia Today) — Director of the Serbian Statistics Office Dragan Vukmirovic said today that Serbia has exited recession as its GDP in the first quarter of 2010 was higher by 1% compared to the same period in 2009. Speaking at a press conference, Vukmirovic said that this was the first GDP growth seen after a fall during four consecutive quarterly periods in 2009. The estimate of Serbia’s exit from recession is based on a flash estimate of quarterly GDP published by the Statistics Office for the first time today, he said. The main reason for introducing this methodology is to provide early estimates during a crisis, said Vukmirovic. The flash estimate was introduced in Europe because of the current economic crisis and is based on calculations over a period of 30 to 45 days after the end of a quarter, while a detailed GDP estimate is formed over 60 to 90 days after the end of a quarter, he explained. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarterly GDP falls but only one quarterly period of growth is enough to exit recession, he said. The depersonalized data from the first quarter of 2010 shows a 1.2% GDP growth compared to the last quarter of 2009, said Vukmirovic. Vukmirovic said the retail prices of goods and services in Serbia in April this year were higher by 1.1% compared to the previous month. Compared to the same month of 2009, the April price increased by 7.4%, he stated. The cost of living in Serbia in April 2010 month-on-month got higher by 0.6%, Vukmirovic added. In April 2010, compared to December 2009, the cost of living increased by 2.6%, he said. He explained that the difference between inflation and the cost of living is a result of various influences including rising prices of certain products. The Director of the Serbian Statistics Office said that industrial production in March 2010 was higher by 2.7% compared to the first three months of 2009. Compared to the 2009 average, production was higher by 2.4%. According to Vukmirovic, during January – March 2010, compared to the same period in 2009, industrial production grew by 2.8%

Serbia exits recession

Dinkic: from May 1st only RSD loans

Belgrade, April 30. 2010 (Serbia Today) - The Serbian government issued yesterday the Decree which will terminate use of the foreign currency (Euro) in calculating loans. Serbian banks are from May 1st required to give loans only calculated in dinars without using currency clause. This will apply both to business and consumer loans. "It will be much safer for the businesses, because they will avoid the risk of exchange rate and interest rates on diner loans, liquidity is only 7 per cent per year, which is significantly lower than the previous clause," Mladjan Dinkic, Minister of Economy, told reporters. According to Dinkić, in the first three months since the start of the implementation of the program of subsidized loans, government granted nearly 500 million Euros of subsidized loans to businesses and citizens. "It's almost the half the total amount from last year, when the banks approved 1.3 billion of subsidized loans," he said.

Government to adopt program for revival of industrial centers

Belgrade, April 29. 2010 (Serbia Today) - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic said yesterday in Novi Pazar that the government will adopt a special program in May for the revival of industrial centers. Dinkic, who visited Novi Pazar together with Minister of Labor and Social Policy Rasim Ljajic, said that this program will cover Novi Pazar, Nis, Kraljevo and Zajecar. He explained that the program will entail special incentives for investors who open new workplaces in these towns. For example, investors in Novi Pazar will have double incentives from the budget per new employee. The Minister said that this town has a very high unemployment rate of 50% and that the government will especially encourage investors who want to build new production plants and renovate existing ones. He added that an office of the Development Fund will be opened in Novi Pazar, which approves soft loans for active industries in underdeveloped areas. Dinkic explained that these loans require a mortgage in the amount of 50% of the loan, the annual interest rate of 2.5% is fixed and the repayment period is five years. These loans will help companies that employ workers in the furniture, textile, shoe and machinery industries. Dinkic and Ljajic spoke with Novi Pazar Mayor Meha Mahmutovic and with the region’s businessmen. At the beginning of the visit, the ministers visited the Tahirovic furniture factory. This company is an example of a successful industry which not only produces goods for the Serbian market, but for export as well.

New “Fiat Uno” from Kragujevac

Belgrade, April 28. 2010 ( Serbia Today) - As Belgrade daily Blic reports, new version of the model Fiat Uno will be produced in Serbia and it is accepted that the first cars will be coming out of the assembly line from Kragujevac by the end of 2011. This news also appeared on several Italian websites specialized in auto industry news. It is accepted that press conference where Fiat will officially announce the production of a new model will be at the beginning of May in Torino. The same model will be produced in Fiat’s factory in Brazil. The new Fiat Uno will be presented to the public on May 7 in Brazil while the timing of the promotion of the Serbian model is not known yet. However, Nebojsa Zdravkovic Deputy Mayor of Kragujevac, confirmed for daily Blic that the factor in Kragujevac is well on the preparation road to start production of the new model. It is expected that the production of the new model of Fiat Uno will bring additional 10 thousand jobs for Kragujevac. As Fiat managers announced at their last visit to Kragujevac, Fiat will invest during this spring and summer around 1500 million Euros in car factory in Kragujevac.

Serbia, Italy set up Business Council

Belgrade, April 27, 2010 (Source:B92) - Serbia and Italy set up a Business Council, which is aimed at promoting relations among companies and entrepreneurs of the two countries, in Belgrade yesterday. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mlađan Dinkić and Italian Minister for Economic Development Claudio Scajola signed a joint declaration on founding of the Business Council. Dinkić evaluated that the founding of the Council, such as those Italy had already set up with France and Germany, confirms the importance of the economic cooperation between the two countries, underscoring that Serbia's exports had marked a 13-percent growth since the beginning of the year and that the major part of those commodities was exported to Italy. He recalled that Italy had started important business projects in Serbia, such as the arrival of Fiat, announcing that talks will soon start with Italy's producer of car components Magneti Marelli on setting up capacities in Kragujevac. Dinkić recalled that a feasibility study for the reconstruction of the Belgrade-Bar railway, developed in cooperation with Italy's Italfer, will be completed by the end of this fall. He announced that a summit of producers of car parts, sponsored by Fiat and the Serbian government, will be held in Serbia on May 25. The minister recalled that there are about 250 Italian companies operating in different sectors in Serbia. Minister Scajola said that Italy wants to intensify political relations with Serbia and help Serbia get accepted in the European Union sooner. Scajola underlined that Italian entrepreneurs are very much satisfied with their business results in Serbia, announcing “a bigger investment impulse” in the coming period.

PM meets with reps of U.S. companies

Belgrade, April 25. 2010 (Source: B92) - There's been good cooperation in creating favorable business environment for promotion of the Serbian economy, said PM Mirko Cvetković. He made the comment on Friday during a meeting with mangers and representatives of U.S. and other international companies that are doing business in Serbia and are members of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). Cvetković pointed out that the top 2010 priority of the Serbian government is increase in employment rate and economic activity, the Serbian government's press office stated. Special attention was paid to the implementation of the regulatory guillotine, improvement of the legislation in the area of working relationships and real estate market regulations. “The government creates the business environment, while an active dialogue between state and economy is extremely important,” the prime minister underlined. AmCham President Skip Bornhuetter underscored that the chamber believes that consistent implementation of reforms is crucial for future attraction of foreign investments, and particularly of those reforms that refer to reduction of bureaucracy and administrative procedures. “In the period when the level of direct foreign investments is low, it is crucial to prepare the ground for the inflow of new investments and provide an impetus to the entrepreneurship,” Bornhuetter said.