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EBRD issues strategy for Serbia and Montenegro
Senior Bank staff present country strategy and Transition Report in Belgrade
Serbia and Montenegro is making progress in economic growth but more reforms
are needed to further promote its transition towards a market economy, the
EBRD says in its latest strategy on the country, issued just six months ahead
of its Annual Meeting in Belgrade on 22-23 May 2005.
The strategy, available on www.ebrd.com, says one of the Union’s key
challenges is to create a business-friendly investment climate by tackling red
tape and corruption, and to boost private-sector development. Despite some
early privatisations in the oil and tobacco sectors, for example, which
contributed around €1 billion to state coffers last year, the speed of
privatisation in 2004 has slowed down.
Olivier Descamps, Business Group Director for Southern and Eastern Europe,
said the country has seen the financial benefits of privatisations, and
officials must build on this by further promoting the privatisation of
large-scale enterprises such as the energy and telecommunications sector.
According to the Bank’s latest Transition Report, growth in
Serbia and Montenegro has picked up in 2004 to at least 5 per cent, up from 3
per cent the year before. To help promote further growth and attract more
foreign investment, the EBRD will focus on core areas, which include:
Corporate sector development, such as promoting large-scale
privatisations, supporting agribusiness projects, including those with a
regional dimension, developing projects in property and tourism and greenfield
investments, especially working with foreign strategic investors.
Energy and Infrastructure, where the Bank will, together with partners
like the European Investment Bank, European Union and World Bank, help develop
transport, energy and municipal projects across the country. In particular,
the Bank will focus on projects which have a regional dimension, such as
electricity, and will continue to support processes that will eventually lead
to the privatisation of the telecommunications sector.
Technical Cooperation, Commercial and Official co-financing, where the
EBRD will continue its good relationship with the EIB, World Bank and donor
agencies, and aim to work with more local and foreign banks on investments in
the country. The Bank will, thanks to the renewed support of the European
Agency for Reconstruction, continue the work of the Turn Around Management
Programme (TAM) and Business Advisory Services (BAS), which are important
projects that benefit entrepreneurs, local companies and the economy.
The EBRD signed its first project in Serbia and Montenegro in April 2001. In
that short period, Mr Descamps said, the Bank has become the largest single
investor in the country, having committed nearly €600 million in new
investments, and mobilised a further €620 million in foreign investment. This
is a figure we intend to expand on significantly, he added.
Note to editors:
Olivier Descamps, together with Peter Sanfey, lead EBRD economist for
Southeast Europe, will present the findings of the strategy and the Bank’s
latest Transition Report to officials, businesspeople and journalists on Tuesday
16 November at the auditorium in Yubmes Banka, Bulevar Avnoja 121 at
10:00hrs.
If you would like to attend this event, please contact Svetlana Strizovic
on +381 (11) 311 3201. Alternatively, email Ms Strizovic on: StrizovS@ebrd.com.
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