The public-private partnership model has not taken root, although it would ensure faster infrastructure development, quality enhancement of public services and inflow of fresh capital, Vidosava Dzagic, deputy chairperson of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS), stated on Wednesday.
Dzagic said at a conference dubbed “Public-private partnerships in Serbia – through support to high-quality projects” that the private and public partners agree that there are regulatory limitations which refer to mandatory establishment of a separate society with a view to implementation of a public contract.
This results in additional costs and complicates procedures that are already complex and therefore there is room for improvement by drafting models of public contract and models of direct contract on funding so that the implementation of the public-private partnership project would be facilitated for potential partners.
Aleksandar Kemives, PKS independent adviser, said that much has been done on the development of the public-private partnership since there is a normative and legal framework for their implementation, a commission has been formed which monitors and assesses the projects, and then agrees on the implementation through modalities it has established.
However, there is no great implementation of this type of partnership because the local self-governments have not proposed sufficient number of projects, he said.
Aleksandar Djordjevic, head of the Project and Corporate Financing Department of Societe Generale, said that there are not many examples of successful public-private partnership since in Serbia it is only in an early stage and therefore there is no great experience of commercial banks in financing projects.
Djordjevic said that the banks in Serbia are ready for such projects, but it should be taken into account that public-private partnership includes long-term investments to the period of 25-30 years.
“Domestic commercial banks will not be able to ensure full financing in such a period and parent banks from the EU will have to be included, while commercial banks in Serbia will have to make products that would look like 25-year financing by certain refinancing,” Djordjevic said.
Howard Ockman, head of the USAID Sustainable Local Development Project, said that businessmen are highly important in encouraging and developing these partnerships, and they are of much use to the public sector.
Source SerbGov
