Udovicki: Comprehensive reforms ahead for Serbia

BERLIN - Comprehensive public administration reforms and fiscal consolidation - including painful measures - are ahead for Serbia, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Kori Udovicki, who is also minister of state administration and local self-government, said in Berlin on Monday.

Serbia is at a turning point and the government is aware that there are no more years left to delay reforms, Udovicki said at a panel discussion on Serbia's European pathway, organised by the Serbia-Germany Forum and the German Foreign Policy Council.

The fiscal consolidation will consist of many painful measures, from getting salaries in the public sector under control - which will be one of the first measures - to streamlining the state apparatus, as well as reducing pensions if necessary, she said.

Functional analyses are under preparation to make it possible to initiate the process of streamlining the structure and number of employees in the entire state administration in 2015, which will affect both direct and indirect beneficiaries of budget funds, Udovicki said.

The most important thing is to say that there is a commitment and understanding among all members of the government that, without a new, much easier approach to investing in Serbia, it will not be possible to revive the economy and speed up economic growth, she said.

Minister of Economy Dusan Vujovic said that the Privatisation Agency has 584 companies registered and that 161 of those are under restructuring and protected from all creditors.

A solution for those companies is pending and that is the main obstacle that must be removed, he said.

The public sector is the other side of the problem - instead of being the backbone of Serbia's development, public...