Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said that by fulfilling the recommendations of the Financial Activity Task Force (FATF), Serbia has found itself in a narrow group of countries that are most in line with those recommendations.
“Our country is fulfilling its international obligations on time and before deadlines, and with this dynamic of fulfilling its obligations to MANIVAL it has found itself in a narrow circle of countries that are most in line with the FATF2 recommendations”, Mali said.
He stated that the Council of Europe Committee of MANIVAL had published a third progress report and that Serbia had, since its previous assessment, been “partially aligned”, now rated “aligned”.
Mali stated that some of the recommendations were related to the laws we had already adopted and that these already completed steps would only be evaluated in 2021.
“We have framed our legislative activities. We have adopted laws that are in line with the EU acquis and the rules of the MANIVAL, and we are left to adopt guidelines, various instructions and concrete implementation of the adopted legislation”, Mali said.
He stressed that he expects a lot from the Strategy for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, which has already passed the public debate and is expected to be adopted at the session of the Government of Serbia, perhaps as early as next month.
According to him, the strategy will aim to protect the country’s economy and financial system from the dangers of money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Mali emphasized that the uniformity of legal treatment with EU countries will help Serbia find its place on the investment map, which, thanks to efforts and reforms, already belongs to it, and important international financial and rating agencies remain to recognize it.
“We expect to assign an investment rating to Serbia by the end of this year. The rating agencies take into account the legal certainty of investment, the existence of political stability, continued commitment and commitment to move forward with reforms”, Mali said for Dnevnik.
