PRESENTATION OF THE PROGRAM OF THE FUND FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SERBIA IN BUJANVAC

14. April 2011.

Bujanovac – Yesterday, a meeting between businessmen from Bujanovac and Presevo and representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, the Fund for Development of Serbia and the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja was held in Bujanovac. In the full room of the Bujanovac community center, Dragijana Radonjic-Petrovic, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, and Sladjana Backovic, Director of the Fund for Development of Serbia, pointed out that their visit was aimed at making businessmen from South Serbia interested in both the Ministry of Economy’s grants and in the Fund for Development’s loans.

The Ministry of Economy and Regional Development planned to provide assistance to successful companies with grants worth 193 million dinars this year. The response of most of the businessmen to the offers was varied, because the greatest problem of the majority of company owners from Bujanovac and Presevo is that their business operations aren’t clean, while the facilities that should serve for mortgage don’t have the necessary papers, because they hadn’t been entered into books.

“The Fund for Development’s funds are granted in this region under a very favorable annual rate of interest, which ranges from only 1 to 3 per cent, depending on the client’s credit worthiness, so that I expect that there will be several candidates from here for 9 million dinars, which the Fund will grant this year,” said Sladjana Backovic, Director of the Fund. She added that the Fund for Development granted loans for a five –year period, including a one-year grace period.

Dragijana Radonjic – Petrovic said that the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development was trying to find a solution for reducing income taxes and contributions for the purpose of facilitating economic operations. She also said that at that moment employers in Serbia were, for every 100 dinars of salaries paid to employees, giving 64 dinars to the state for taxes and contributions, which was a huge burden for them.

„That is one of the reasons why a lot of people work illegally. We are aware that a reduction in income tax would lead to a reduced number of the unemployed and to regulation of service years that are necessary for old – age pension, so that we are working seriously on solving the issue, “said Ms Radonjic-Petrovic.