From: Gregory Elich [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 11:36 PM
Subject: Privatization: Serbia for Sale
Tanjug (Belgrade)
February 18, 2003
SERBIAN ECONOMY MINISTER SAYS PRIVATIZATION PROCEEDING ACCORDING TO PLAN
Belgrade, Feb 18 (Tanjug) -- Serbian Minister of Economy and Privatization Aleksandar Vlahovic has said auction sales of small and medium-sized socially-owned companies in Serbia will be completed by the year 2005, as well as 50 tender sales of larger companies, so that the Ministry can wholly devote itself to the restructuring of the remaining large public systems in the economy.
Speaking in a broadcast on Serbian Radio Television RTS late Monday, Vlahovic said a large number of successful big companies had been privatized already according to the 1997 law on property transformation, so that about 100 other large companies would be sold through tenders.
In the coming period, once strong institutions are set up for realizing ownership transformation -- a privatization agency and a share fund -- this process will be stepped up, so that 60 percent of the economy is expected to be privately owned already by October of this year, Vlahovic said.
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Tanjug (Belgrade)
February 20, 2003
SERBIA ACCEPTS OFFERS FOR ZASTAVA CAR PLANT
Belgrade, Feb 20 (Tanjug) -- The Serbian Ministry for Economy and Privatization on Thursday invited all interested parties, including the YUCAN Corporation of Canada, to participate in the privatization of the Zastava Auto Works of Kragujevac, pointing out that it was in the interest of all citizens that the factory secure the best conditions from a strategic partnership.
The Ministry commented on media reports that YUCAN wants to buy Zastava and its subcontractors, in spite of a Letter of Intent Zastava earlier signed with Nucarco of the United States. The precontract with Nucarco does not prevent the Privatization Agency from negotiating with all parties interested in Zastava's privatization, the Ministry said.
The essential thing is to select the best offer which will enable Zastava and the entire economy of Kragujevac a speedy and successful recovery, the Ministry said.
Zastava sent the Ministry and the Privatization Agency copies of a letter it received from YUCAN, signed by its director, ethnic Serb Stevan Pokrajac, offering to purchase the Kragujevac factory and its subcontractors for the sum of no less than 150 million dollars.
YUCAN pledged to top the offer of Nucarco, which offered 150 million dollars and signed a percontract with Zastava in October 2002 on setting up a mixed company which would be called Zastava Motor Works.
YUCAN's Pokrajac said the company would settle all Zastava's debts to the state, its workers and Italy's Fiat -- an estimated total of at least 80 million dollars.
[Privatization Effort Yields Results:]
Tanjug (Belgrade)
February 26, 2003
SERBIA'S INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION DROPS 21 PERCENT IN ONE MONTH
Belgrade, Feb 26 (Tanjug) -- The industrial production in Serbia dropped by 21 percent in January 2003 in comparison with December 2002 and by 6.2 percent in comparison with January 2002, head of the Serbian Development Institute Edvard Jakopin said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the presentation of the Serbian Economic Diagram, Jakopin said that the industrial production in central Serbia had dropped by 3.7 and in Vojvodina by 11.2 percent in January 2003 in comparison with January 2002.
Speaking about the privatisation results, Jakopin said that 72 enterprises had been privatised since the beginning of this year and that the realised income amounted to 29.9 million euros, and added that the real increase of payments from the investors' accounts amounted to 75 percent in 2002 in comparison with 2001.
He said that the January salaries dropped because of high payments in December, so that the average net salary was by 18.4 percent lower in comparison with December, amounting to 9,468 dinars.
Retail prices in January grew by 0.8 percent in comparison with December 2002, while the costs of living rose by 0.4 percent in the same period.
Jakopin said that in December the Serbian government had adopted a strategy of development of small and medium sized enterprises and entrepreneurship, with the main goal of increasing the number of small and medium enterprises and private entrepreneurs from 270,000 to 400,000and opening more than one million of jobs in this sector.
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