The economy in Serbia, despite the state of emergency and the economic crisis, successfully “passed” the first wave of the COVID-19 infectious disease pandemic in the first six months, because the number of open economic entities increased by 6,313 compared to the closed ones, the National Alliance fro local economic development (NALED) announced on Thursday.
In the first half of the year, as it is stated, 18,124 companies were opened, and 11,811 were closed, and there were 389,644 active economic entities and entrepreneurs.
This was shown by the semi-annual report on the state of the economy, which, with the support of German development cooperation conducted by GIZ, was done by NALED and the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies within the competition of local self-governments “Champions of Entrepreneurship 2020”.
The research is based on data from the Tax Administration and the Business Registers Agency for the period from January 1 to June 30, 2020.
“However, despite the positive balance, the pandemic has affected the reduction of economic activity, because fewer openings of new companies have been registered,” the statement reads.
It is added that from January to the end of June, almost a fifth fewer companies were opened than in the same period in the previous five years.
However, the “deletion” of economic entities from the register decreased by one tenth, which can be partly interpreted as a result of the Government’s measures to support the economy during and after the state of emergency.
“In April, at the height of the epidemic, 864 economic entities were established, four times less than the April average in the previous five years. In May, that number was slightly higher, and in June 5,365 new economic entities were established, which is a record in the past five years,” the statement said.
According to NALED Director for Regulatory Reform Jelena Bojovic, these statistical trends are the result of the easing of measures due to the epidemiological crisis and the gradual opening of the economy.
In the first six months, almost 25,000 entrepreneurs, who employ about 17,300 workers, temporarily suspended their operations, and most of them in March (10,000). “These are not necessarily lost jobs, because part of the entrepreneurs only temporarily suspended their work during the state of emergency,” said Bojovic.
In addition, on March 1, she said, the application of the “independence test” for entrepreneurs who pay a flat tax began, so many of them most likely went into employment with their employers, thanks, among other things, to the tax exemptions that apply from this year.
According to Bojovic, this is indicated by the fact that out of the total number of suspensions, 28.2 percent are developers and others engaged in the IT sector.
Due to the pandemic, the Government of Serbia adopted a package of measures to reduce the negative effects of the pandemic and support the economy, in the amount of 5.1 billion euros.
At the session on April 29, the deputies of the Assembly of Serbia confirmed the rebalance of the budget for 2020, which was adopted by the Government of Serbia five days earlier in order to use the funds to eliminate the consequences of the epidemic, Slobodna Evropa reports.
