Serbia has long recorded growth in the construction industry, but now that sector is slowing down. Fewer construction permits have been issued and the value of works has decreased. Interlocutors of Euronews Serbia note that a certain slowdown is logical, because the „big boom“ we had cannot last indefinitely.
According to experts, it is necessary to ensure stable chains in the supply of building materials and to use domestically produced materials as much as possible. They also assess that it is necessary for infrastructure projects to proceed smoothly and continuously with the dynamics that existed in the previous period.
Dean of FEFA, Milan Nedeljković, told Euronews Serbia that the decline in the construction industry is not yet that great, but that any slowdown in that segment has negative effects and direct consequences on economic activity.
“It should be borne in mind that the construction industry had an extremely large boom that cannot be expected to last continuously and indefinitely, so it is logical to see some slowdown. On the other hand, in conditions when interest rates are on the rise and when is slowly decreasing the demand for buying real estate and especially for renting office space, then it is something that is not surprising that the construction sector is slowing down,” said Nedeljković.
The secretary of the Association for the Construction Industry of the Serbian Chamber of commerce Ivana Vuletić, tells Euronews Serbia that the decline in the construction industry in Serbia is an average of 10 percent, and that the decline in the activity of the construction industry and the decline in the number of issued permits can be seen through the rise in the price of construction materials, starting with covid.
“After that, there was a short-term stabilization. When it was supposed to start with further growth, that’s when the crisis in Ukraine began, which greatly affected the inflationary trends, so that we have an increase in credit prices and a global recession, and the direct consequence was also seen in the construction industry,” said Vuletić.
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