A memorandum on launching a debt settlement program was signed on Monday.
The project is also aimed at improving the operation of the Agency for Licensing of Bankruptcy Trustees and upgrading the capacities of bankruptcy trustees.
The memorandum was inked by Serbian Minister of Economy Zeljko Sertic and Serbian Minister of Justice Nikola Selakovic with International Financial Corporation (IFC) Regional Manager Thomas Lubeck.
Sertic said that the objective is to get the banks interested in entering voluntary, out-of-court debt settlement processes and speeding up bankruptcy procedures.
The amendments to the Law on Bankruptcy will be prepared for a public debate in agreement with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, he added.
Lubeck pointed out that Serbia has a high percentage of NPLs, whose share in the portfolio of Serbian banks reached 23 percent at the end of 2014 according to the IFC data.
On the behalf of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS), the agreement was signed by PKS Chairman Marko Cadez.
Source; B92
