Serbia Pledges to Use Donors' Floods Aid Wisely

Marko Blagojevic, head of the Serbian Office for Reconstruction and Flood Relief, said Serbia will use the funds raised at the donors' conference in Brussels primarily for the reconstruction of its energy system and for agricultural recovery.

"Those are the fields that suffered the most substantial damage during the severe floods," Blagojevic told BIRN. "Assistance will be provided to small and middle-sized companies as well," Blagojevic added.

Representatives of 23 international organizations and 60 nations attending a donor's conference in Brussels on Wednesday pledged to give 995 million euro to Serbia and 809 million euro to Bosnia and Herzegovina to aid their recovery.

According to Blagojevic, another conference, due in six months, would offer an opportunity to review the work done by that point and see how the funds were being used. "At that point, we will see what we have done and what remains to be done," he said.

Slovenia's outgoing Prime Minister, Alenka Bratusek, told the conference in Brussles that the transparent distribution of the funds was important. According to her, the European Commission would help monitor the funds' distribution.

Borislav Stefanovic, whip of Serbia's opposition Democratic Party, on Thursday accused the the Serbian government of failing to spell out the true nature of the pledges offered in Brussels.

The government was obliged to explain to people that the funds raised included loans as well as direct grants, he noted.

Failure to make clear this distinction, he said would be "irresponsible and show... an attempt to hide something that is unfortunate for them," he said.

The money offered is just over half what Serbia has said it needs to recover fully from the floods. Serbia...