Of this amount, at least 26 million euros is to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy Dragan Stevanovic told Tanjug that the news was that more incentives would be earmarked for tourism in 2020 because, he explained, support was provided for investors who want to invest in spas or tourist areas.
“Serbia definitely has this and recognizes it as a significant resource and I think that we will give an additional stimulus and contribution to growth through the affirmation of this sector”, Stevanovic said.
He said the Ministry of Economy will continue to implement many of the measures it has established in previous years, which it said have proved to be good and useful and have given effects and a significant contribution to the economic growth that Serbia achieved in 2019.
Stevanovic said that in addition to supporting new domestic and foreign investors, a measure of support for small businesses is also significant.
Thus, in 2019, it started with 15 million euros earmarked for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, and ended, he says, with 25 million euros earmarked for, or awarded grants to, the sector. Stevanovic says 1,266 companies have been eligible for grants in 2019, with 2020 starting at 26 million euros for those purposes. This, he added, is not the final amount of funds earmarked for supporting the SME sector, as, he explains, additional budgetary funds will be provided, if necessary.
“It seems to me that in 2020 we will have a large amount of money to make available to the sector. With 26 million euros of grants, a total of 135 million euros of investments in the SME sector was engaged in 2019 alone”.
“We believe that this figure will be higher in 2020, which will again positively and qualitatively reflect on the economic growth that we want to achieve in 2020”, Stevanovic said.
The State Secretary also states that the plans of the Ministry of Economy for 2020 include the continuation of the implementation of infrastructure projects in business zones.
Stevanovic called on the local governments to prepare the project technical documentation to apply immediately after the opening of public calls from January to make a decision on the allocation of funds and for the works to start in the spring.
He also announced that the Ministry of Economy would draw up an action plan for the implementation of the industrial policy strategy in the coming year, and that legislative activity would continue.
In the first days of the New Year, the implementation of the amendments to the Law on Companies, which introduced some new financial instruments and mechanisms, begins, and Stevanovic says that the possibility of the right to acquire shares in limited liability companies is also envisaged, defining the instrument of reserved own share.
According to him, this will apply to individual employees and hired under contract or other grounds for the benefit of a start-up, developing company, has serious and ambitious projects for the future, but who will not be in a situation when hiring them they are rewarded and paid accordingly.
“For these people, one financial instrument is foreseen to be able to acquire, under favorable conditions, some shareholdings in those firms over a period of time, when the due date comes. Of course, those who are so engaged will evaluate whether the company has a prospect and that whether they want to do it or not”, Stevanovic specified.
The Secretary of State stressed that thanks to bold reform moves, Serbia is now a good place for business development, and that this is demonstrated by the World Bank’s Duing Business List, where Serbia has advanced by four positions.
“In terms of ease of doing business, we were ranked 44th out of 190 ranked countries in the world”, Stevanovic recalled, adding that the Ministry of Economy also contributed to Serbia’s progress on the Duing Business List in 2019 through amendments to the Companies Act and the Bankruptcy Law in 2018 year.
The plan of the state is to be in the top 10 countries on the Duing Business List, says Stevanovic, adding that this will require serious efforts in the legislative sense and when we talk about the Companies Act, by-laws, but certainly also the Bankruptcy Law in 2020.
He also reminded that at the beginning of the New Year, the Law on Real Property Owners Registry would be implemented and amended, which, he added, were adopted due to the need to comply with international standards and international regulations, first of all, in the field of anti-money laundering and in the field of combating terrorism.
“The amendments to the law specify some of the provisions that increase the obligations, as well as the powers of state bodies dealing with this record”, Stevanovic said, adding that Serbia would show some progress in this area as well, and that it is absolutely part of the modern and the developed world, Tanjug reports.
