DAILY NEWS, September 23th
Djelic attends IMF annual session
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bozidar Djelic is to take part in the
World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual session in Washington as of
Friday. He is heading Serbia's delegation at the bilateral meetings with heads and
representatives of the WB, the IMF and the Swiss delegation. Besides Djelic, the events will be
also attended by National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Dejan Soskic. The topics of the
meetings to be held September 23-26 refer to global and individual interests of member
states, and comprise issues of poverty combat, economic development, the ongoing
activities of the WB and the IMF, and aid for the underdeveloped countries, Djelic's cabinet
released.
Serbia sells $1bn Eurobonds
Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic today stated that Serbia has sold Eurobonds at the
international market worth $1 billion. In an interview to Beta news agency, Cvetkovic said
that this is a historic event for Serbia because this is the first time that state securities have
been quoted at the European market. He said that yesterday’s trade in Eurobonds was very
successful for Serbia because the demand was twice as big as the supply, namely, offers
were made to the amount of $2 billion. The Prime Minister explained that 10-year
Eurobonds were sold with the interest rate of 7.25%. Having successfully sold Eurobonds at
European stock markets, Serbia showed that it can participate in both commodity and
financial exchange with the world, Cvetkovic observed. Interest in Serbian Eurobonds was
great, although this is an unfavourable time at global financial markets, which means that
financial investors have confidence in Serbia and its perspective, Cvetkovic noted. The
significance of the sale of Eurobonds also lies in the fact that the state thus receives longterm sources of financing its budget liquidity and amends its balance of payments, he
explained. The Prime Minister recalled that the state has so far engaged in short-term debts
only, by selling treasury bills, thus reducing the loan potential of banks that were the major
buyers of these securities. He voiced his pleasure at the way the Eurobond offer was
received, adding that foreign investors were assured that the macroeconomic and political
situation in Serbia is stable.
Protection of intellectual property
Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bozidar Djelic spoke today with President of
the European Patent Office Benoit Battistelli about all the opportunities that have arisen for
Serbia since it became a member of the European Patent Office in October 2010. Djelic
underlined that the protection of intellectual property is a necessary precondition for
attracting technology companies that also produce intellectual property. He pointed out that
KLIPING d.o.o.
Preduzeće za monitoring i analizu medija, Braće Radovanovića 12, 11 118 Beograd, Srbija,
matični broj: 20328045, PIB: 105241994, tekući račun: SGYB 275-0000220812778-25.
E: kliping@kliping.rs, S: www.kliping.rs
DAILY NEWS, September 23th
in the past two years much has been done on the harmonisation of legislation in this area
with European standards, which resulted in Serbia’s membership in the European Patent
Office. Djelic pointed to the considerable efforts Serbia has made to move towards
knowledge-based economy through investments in science and technology infrastructure,
an increase of 33% in the number of funded researchers and establishment of the Fund for
innovative activity. He noted that all these investments can have maximum effects only if
intellectual property is protected. Battistelli pointed out that past experience has shown that
all countries became a member of the European Patent Office first before they joined the EU.
He added that the membership in this organisation is a clear sign to investors that Serbia has
reached necessary standards in the field of patents. The European Patent Office will actively
participate in the improvement of work of the Intellectual Property Institute of Serbia,
improvement of technology transfer centres and informing of the public, scientific and
professional communities and companies on this subject, Battistelli said. He added that the
EU announced that it will soon introduce a unique patent at the level of the entire Union
which will reduce the cost of patenting by 70%.
Budget deficit increased by 10.5 billion dinars in August
Serbian government budget deficit in August rose by 10.52 billion dinars and amounted to
98.35 billion dinars, announced the Ministry of Finance. Total budget revenues for eight
months were 443.98 billion dinars and expenditures 542.34 billion dinars. The draft budget
rebalance which is in parliamentary procedure, proposes expenditure of 850.1 billion and
revenue of 707.34 billion, with a budget deficit of 142.7 billion dinars. The largest revenue
in the budget in August was from the collection of value added tax (VAT) - 24.16 billion
dinars, which is about eight billion less than in July. Excise duties were charged in the
amount of 17.39 billion, 9.5 billion dinars more than in July. The largest budget
expenditures for August were for grants to compulsory social insurance organizations 22.38 billion, 1.31 billion dinars less than in July. For wages 16.76 billion were paid, 700
million dinars less than in July. At the end of 2010 public debt amounted to 12.16 billion
euros, which was then 42.9 percent of GDP.
Serbia's public debt at the end of August 41.7 percent of GDP
Serbia's public debt at the end of August 2011 was about 13.79 billion euros, which is 41.7
percent of gross domestic product (GDP), announced the Ministry of Finance. According to
the Law on Budget System, Serbia's public debt is limited to 45 percent of GDP. Total direct
obligations of Serbia at the end of August amounted to about 11.67 billion euros, while the
internal debt was about 5.57 billion euros, and the foreign debt 6.11 billion euros. Total
indirect liability at the end of August was 2.13 billion euros, according to the ministry
KLIPING d.o.o.
Preduzeće za monitoring i analizu medija, Braće Radovanovića 12, 11 118 Beograd, Srbija,
matični broj: 20328045, PIB: 105241994, tekući račun: SGYB 275-0000220812778-25.
E: kliping@kliping.rs, S: www.kliping.rs
DAILY NEWS, September 23th
website. At the end of 2008 Serbia's public debt amounted to 8.78 billion euros, which was
29.2 percent of GDP.
Alert sign: 105 days of non-payment
All payments of companies operating in Serbia which are more than 105 days late, indicate
that the company is in trouble and is threatened by bankruptcy or insolvency, said the
director of Credit Rating Agency “Rating”, Ljiljana Devic-Cupara. She added that in England
the rule applies that there is 70 percent possibility that the company will go bankrupt within
a year if its payments are delayed from 90 to 120 days. Devic-Cupara stressed that the
examination of a company's solvency is important, especially in Serbia, because it examines
the risk of doing business with another company. When asked about the credit worthiness of
Serbian companies on the basis of previous business analysis, Devic-Cupara said that Serbia
is in front of B&H, but far behind Croatia and Slovenia. The database of this agency contains
500,000 companies in the region and 125,000 Serbian companies.
KLIPING d.o.o.
Preduzeće za monitoring i analizu medija, Braće Radovanovića 12, 11 118 Beograd, Srbija,
matični broj: 20328045, PIB: 105241994, tekući račun: SGYB 275-0000220812778-25.
E: kliping@kliping.rs, S: www.kliping.rs