Serbia has made a progress in the water and wastewater sector, one of 16 domains in which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development measures the progress made by transition countries, it was announced Tuesday.
According to the Transition Report 2011, continued operational improvements from investments and corporate strengthening, together with improved bill collection and minor
tariff increases, are moving the sector towards more cost-reflective pricing and a better managed water sector overall, which is why the country’s score improved from “2” to “2+” on the scale where “1” indicates minimum and “4+” indicates maximum alignment with the market economy.
Serbia’s key priorities in 2012 should be: preparations for EU accession talks, further fiscal reforms, and intensification of policies to encourage local currency use, the EBRD assesses in its Transition Report.
The EBRD also notes that the Serbian economy has shown some signs of recovery from the crisis and that the economy is expected to grow by 2.1% in 2011, but it is added that inflation remains significantly above that of regional peers.
According to the EBRD’s estimates, inflation in Serbia will amount to 7.9% at the end of 2011.
The EBRD also states that significant investments are being made in the roads and railways sectors in Serbia, but that large-scale privatization is making little progress since two planned flagship sales – Telekom Srbija and JAT Airways – did not materialize in the past year.
The Transition Report 2011 also reads that the European Commission (EC) in October 2011 recommended that Serbia be granted formal candidate status and that ratification by the member states of the existing Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) is advancing.
The EBRD Transition Report 2011 focuses on the progress made by 29 countries, and Serbia is among 12 countries that made some progress in certain domains.
Serbia’s scores range from “2-” in the field of private equity to “3” in telecommunications, railways, and insurance and other financial services.
