Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that at today’s meeting with the delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), they agreed on mechanisms in order to accelerate projects whose value is €600 million.
Vucic said at a press conference in the Serbian government, after a meeting with EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti and a delegation of the bank, that cooperation with the EBRD is very important because it contributes to the arrival of new investments and the growth of the Serbian economy.
€200 million in effective money will be for the Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS) and another €200 million for Serbian Railways, he said noting that there are more projects coming up.
He said that the Serbian government is satisfied with the cooperation with the EBRD, and that we are one of the countries that has the closest and the best cooperation with the bank.
According to Vucic, they discussed important projects that have been initiated, as well as the private sector, supporting small and medium enterprises, business climate, entrepreneurial spirit and privatisation.
The Prime Minister noted that the debt restructuring of Srbijagas was also discussed.
He explained that public debt this year will not exceed 73% of GDP, although it was planned to be 79%.
He said that on this day the Serbian budget surplus is RSD 31.8 billion, which is RSD 115 billion more than the IMF estimated.
According to Vucic, in terms of GDP growth July and August are better than May and June, so by the end of the year it is possible that the economic growth will reach up to 3%.
President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Suma Chakrabarti said that the EBRD supports the efforts of the government of Serbia to continue with reforms, and said that would be a great honour to have Serbia in the European Union.
Chakrabarti said that Serbia has already done a remarkable job when it comes to fiscal consolidation, but also that it is important to continue to progress and to lead the country when it comes to business climate.
He reminded that Serbia is now 59th of more than 100 countries in the Doing Business list of the World Bank, which is a big improvement.
Now it is time to move on with the reforms, restructuring and better governance in state enterprises and privatisations. We are interested to help when it comes to Komercijalna Banka and Airport Nikola Tesla, he stressed.
The EBRD President also praised Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic for previous work.
Serbia and EBRD are at an important crossroads, he said and added that we managed to increase investment to around €500 million per year.
