Competition protection important for attracting new investors

Belgrade, March, 23. 2010 ( Serbia Today) — Minister of Trade and Services Slobodan Milosavljevic said today that building a practical and effective framework for competition protection in the Serbian market is a complicated process and a big challenge for the government and the Competition Protection Commission. Speaking at the Competition and Competition Protection conference, Milosavljevic said that this is an important requirement for establishing businesses in the market, intensifying economic activity and attracting new investors. A first step was made in 2005 by the harmonization of the Serbian market with the European market through the Competition Protection Law. The new Competition Protection Law, passed in 2009, has strengthened mechanisms for the implementation of competition rules, he said. The current legal framework however is inadequate for the full implementation of market competition rules and it must be amended, the Minister said. The purpose of competition protection is not to protect the competitor rather to protect the market, he said. Representative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Paul Moffat said that the current environment can also step up the EU integration process, as well as Serbia’s economic development. Moffat welcomed the adoption of the new Law on the protection of competition, stressing that a great deal has been done in Serbia regarding development of the legal framework. He added that a number of other practical matters have yet to be completed, including the development of a code of conduct regarding competitiveness. Head of the European Integration Section at the European Commission delegation Alberto Cammarata said that Serbia and the European Commission will work together on the implementation of this Law and carefully monitor its enforcement. The conference was organized by the Centre for Liberal-Democratic Studies and the EBRD.

Tender for Corridor 10 northern section

Belgrade, March, 17. 2010 (Source : Tanjug) - Minister of Infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjic said yesterday that the Serbian government has announced a tender for the construction of the northern branch of Corridor 10, from Novi Sad to Horgos and from Subotica to Kelebija.
In a statement to Tanjug news agency, Mrkonjic said that the plan is to complete the entire Belgrade-Horgos-Kelebija highway by completing the construction of the ring road around Novi Sad and the Beska Bridge by the end of this year. The Minister said that a tender for the construction of 110 kilometres of the highway was announced on December 31 last year.
He explained that the tender has been announced for the construction of sections of the highway from Novi Sad to Horgos, on sections between Horgos and 28 kilometres from the border, from the 38th kilometre to the 98th kilometre as well as the section between Kelebija and Subotica. Mrkonjic said that the tender deadline is February 1 and that it will be completed by February 5, adding that he hopes that domestic companies will take part in the construction but the tender is open to foreign companies as well.

€9bn to be invested in energy sector

Kragujevac, March 13. 2010 (Serbia Today) – Serbian Minister of Energy and Mining Petar Skundric said today that some €9 billion will be invested in the Serbian energy sector over the next five to seven years. Opening the international conference "Energy and Sustainable Development", which will be held in Kragujevac until 13 March, Skundric said that €4 billion will be used for the general overhaul, revitalization and increase of environmental standards, and €5 billion for building capacity in the field of energy.

He also said that €3 billion will be invested in renewable energy sources, and €500,000 for electrical transfer projects, since Serbia holds an important position in the region. In the gas sector field, the investment cycle started with the construction of an underground gas storage facility in Banatski Dvor and construction of one more storage facility is planned. The plan is to complete the construction of the "gas ring" in the next few years to enable the integration of Western Balkans into the EU gas market.

The Minister stressed that Serbia is able to build plants using renewable energy sources. Also, we have very good resources for the construction of small hydropower plants, he said adding that Serbia is also rich in eolic and solar energy sources. Italian Ambassador to Serbia Armando Varricchio and Deputy Head of European Commission Delegation to Serbia Adriano Martins noted that despite the fact that Serbia is lagging behind in terms of energy efficiency, it has capacities that can contribute to future development. Chairman of the Management Board of Fiat Automobili Srbija Giovanni de Filippis noted that his company is also working on developing production electric vehicles.

First investor in Beocin Business Park

Beocin, March 10, 2010 (Serbia Today) - Lafarge BFC’s Beocin Business Park welcomed its first investor who shall commence operation this year, creating conditions to opening new job positions in Beočin. The Business park is the regional unique business friendly environment, providing all requirements to investors looking toward South East Europe.

They signed the Contract with the investor, MARS Company which is the producer of precise mechanical parts and process metal components with strong market share, export oriented company which will also strongly influence Serbian export in general. Signing of the Contract was attended by members of Vojvodina Government headed by the President of APV Government, representatives of local community & business sector,  many representatives of local and national media, and Lafarge Beocin Business Park management and employees.  Bojan Pajtić, President of APV Government stated: “This is the beginning of operation of the first plant in BBP which will provide new job positions in Beocin, I congratulate Lafarge BFC and local authority for the partnership in realization of this project. We are supporting this project with 65.000 Euros for the first fifty new job positions.”

Facility in Beocin will be erected within the next six months, in dependence of legal procedure and will produce precise mechanical parts and process metal components. The entire assortment is intended for export. Metal components will be used for medical equipment, elevators, cash machines. It is planned to employ fifty people during the first year of business, and up to a hundred employees by the end of the second year. Value of the investment is around 2,3 million Euros.

By signing of the Contract, the transfer of right to use was made – ownership over the land of 1 hectare where the investor will erect the production facility of 4000 m2. The investor is obliged to apply Lafarge H&S rules and the training will be organized by our H&S Department. In addition, MARS Company is obliged to observe legal, technical, ecological, health and safety regulations, as well as to inform us about erection phases, investment and employment plan. By our Employment Assistant Office, which is established more than 7 years ago, and still operating into the plant, we will support employment process.

Serbian Energy Infrastructure – best investment in future

Budapest/Belgrade, Feb. 26, 2010 ( Source: serbiangov.rs) – Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said on Wednesday on the Summit on Energy Security in Budapest, that investments in energy infrastructure are investments in the future development of countries in the European region that they have to catch up with advanced economies and to provide citizens a higher level of stability.Summit on Energy Security brought together the premiere of countries of Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe. We must invest joint efforts to carry out the planned new transit projects as soon as possible, to ensure a stable energy supply of Europe, as well as to diversify sources and routes of energy markets, said the Prime Minister. He stressed that for Serbia, a priority is the project pipeline South Stream, which should provide significant amounts of natural gas to markets in Europe. He added that the pipeline has a European character and importance and will have positive effects on energy security, creating an energy efficient network economic activity and regional networking. At the same time, we are open for participation in other projects and plans aimed at strengthening the security of energy supply, the expansion of transport-storage capacity and regional networking, said Cvetkovic.

Serbia is already making serious efforts to improve legislation, adopting European standards and the development of energy capacity that would be of regional and European importance, he noted. The Prime Minister said that investment in the reconstruction of the energy capacity per annum is approximately €1 billion, and expressed the expectation that this amount will increase further in the next five years. He recalled that Serbia has started with significant investment in new electricity production capacities, which include construction of two power plants on lignite and a gas plant, whose total capacity is 1750 MWh, which represents approximately 20% of the total production capacity of our country. Cvetkovic said Serbia is investing maximum efforts to promote electricity production from renewable sources, and started activities in the utilization of the remaining hydro potential, especially the Drina River, whose capacity is estimated at approximately 1,000 MWh, with an average annual production of 3800 GWh. The Prime Minister stressed that Serbia adopted a program of support for the production from renewable sources, which should attract significant investment, particularly in the production based on wind, water or biomass. According to him, all the mentioned projects will be carried out only through a majority share of private capital, thus indirectly abolishing a monopoly in the field of electricity production and further improve the efficiency of energy systems. He said that Serbia in early 2009 signed a contract with Russian Gazpromneft, which began an extensive process of investing in the reconstruction of Serbian capacity for processing oil. The Prime Minister stressed that in parallel with the activities of the South Stream project, Serbia invested significant resources in the development of its strategic gas storage. The first of these projects, Banatski Dvor, whose capacity is 800 million cubic meters in the final stage, Cvetkovic explained and added that we intend to increase the capacity several times with the construction of new warehouses. We also plan to invest together with Romania, which will give an additional contribution to the energy stability of Serbia and the region, said the Prime Minister.

French Investments in Transport sector

Belgrade,  Feb. 25, 2010 (Serbia Today) – The Deputy Prime Minister for EU integration Bozidar Djelic and the French State Secretary for Foreign Trade Anne-Marie Idrac announced this evening that France will offer Serbia expertise and investments in their transport sector. “The French government has helped Serbia climb up to category six from seven on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ranking lists,” said Djelic, after talks with Idrac. “We discussed matters of joint interest, including the purchase of an Airbus for Jat Airways. The Serbian government has formed a working group to examine this issue and after this visit we expect that a decision will be reached soon”, said Djelic. “The construction of road and rail Corridor 10 was also discussed as France has expertise in this field,” he said. “The potential of the Danube River was also discussed. France is interested in building river port infrastructure as well as water cleaning projects in Belgrade and other places,” said Djelic. Djelic and Idrac also discussed the Belgrade metro project and stated that joint work will be done to determine the best model, as well as the financial aspects. Idrac said that France will assist Serbia in the EU integration process. “France will also focus on specific areas in which it possesses expertise, transport being one of them,” she said. “French businesses are ready to cooperate for the construction of the metro technically as well as financially. They are also interested in projects related to the Danube,” said Idrac.

Serbia will do everything to attract Swedish investment

Belgrade,  Feb. 24, 2010 (Source: serbiangov.rs) – Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration Bozidar Djelic declared that Serbia will do everything to attract Swedish investment and that negotiations in bringing Swedish company Ikea to the Serbian market by 2011 are underway. After meeting with Swedish Minister of Trade Ewa Bjorling, on Monday Djelic announced that the plot of land to be allocated to Ikea currently belongs to the Institute for Animal Science and is located adjacent to Nikola Tesla airport. He disclosed that Sweden makes annual donations of €11 million to our country, but noted that trade between the two countries is still not at an optimum level. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his gratitude for the decisions made during the Swedish EU presidency in the second half of last year, which hold great importance for Serbia. These include the decision of the Council of EU Ministers to proceed with the implementation of the Interim Trade Agreement and the submission of Serbia's candidacy for membership in the EU. Bjorling said that she discussed Serbia’s further progress in the EU integration process and on ways to strengthen economic cooperation between Serbia and Sweden with Djelic. She said that they also discussed the simplification of administrative procedures relating to investment in the Serbian economy, as well as measures to control corruption. Referring to Serbia’s EU integration, Bjorling noted that Sweden supports the EU enlargement process and Serbia’s eventual accession to the EU. Djelic and Bjorling also met with representatives of Belgrade and Nis and discussed ways of resolving ecological problems in Serbia. These related chiefly to problems caused by waste water. They also discussed issues relating to the energy sector.

MK Group expending in Serbia

Novi Sad, Feb. 22, 2010 (Serbia Today) – “The MK Group” owned by Miodrag Kostic, is interested in taking over management of the sugar plants in Bac, Vrbas, Pecinci, and Kovacica, all presently owned and operated by German sugar giant “Nordcuker”.
MK Group is at this time minority partner of the Nordcuker in the joint venture “Sunoko”. This unofficial statement reported by Belgrade daily Vecernje novosti, came after Nordcuker, which has been for years one of the leading producers of sugar in Europe, announced that it will sell its shares in the Serbian sugar plants.
If Nordcuker will completely pull out of the sugar business in Serbia, or keep some of the shares, it is still unknown. Reason for this move by the German company is most likely in their recent financial troubles after acquisition of the Danish sugar plant “Danisco”. In 2006, Nordcuker entered Serbian market through MK commerce, member of the MK group.

Investment in education must increase

Novi Sad, Feb. 20, 2010 (Serbia Today) – Minister of Education Zarko Obradovic stated on Thursday that Serbia’s further economic development is not possible without quality education for which higher investment is indispensable.

Opening the 6th international education fair “Guidelines” in Novi Sad Obradovic said that the road towards the EU is not possible without a quality, modern and efficient education system. He said that just like other countries, Serbia is also aware of that fact, pointing out that the development of education will require more commitment in order to boost the quality of all people employed in the system.The Minister stressed that this implies Serbia’s engagement in increasing financial contributions for the education sector. He said it is necessary to work systematically in all segments of the education sector, adding that this fair is an opportunity to present Serbia’s achievements to the domestic and international public. Following the opening address, Obradovic and Assistant Minister of Education Bogoljub Lazic toured the stands and participated in the roundtable discussion “Reform of Grammar School Education”. Over 60 exhibitors will be presented at the education fair, which will last until 20 February, including state and private universities from Greece, Hungary, Italy and Serbia.