Last night, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic spoke about the “serious and big plan” for the recovery of the Serbian economy during the pandemic of the coronary virus and the Serbian Journalists Association (UNS) calls for assistance primarily to be applied to small and medium-sized enterprises, including most of the media. Particularly for print and local media, UNS is seeking relief from various taxes and fees.
Thus, this association requires that, during the state of emergency and three months after its end, the endangered media be exempted from paying income taxes, contributions and payroll taxes, utilities and “other levies on cities and municipalities”, including property taxes. There is also a demand for a permanent measure of value added tax payable.
The state of emergency has put the media in a zone of dire survival risk. If the Government of Serbia does not help the endangered journalistic industry, without which there is no democratic organization of the country, at this moment, an unprecedented number of journalists will join their colleagues who have already lost their jobs, which will lead to a decrease in the diversity of media and information that citizens receive – reports the UNS. .
This association also invites the Ministry of Culture and Information to complete all project co-financing contests as soon as possible and to distribute the money provided for this year’s budget. Financial support meant, they said, that the media would not have to lay off workers or terminate business altogether, Juzne Vesti writes.
