Business Conditions in Serbia 'Difficult', Experts Say

Milan Knezevic from the Serbian Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises told BIRN that the conditions for doing business in Serbia are "terrible" and that despite economy minister Zeljko Sertic's promises to improve the situation, "no progress has been made whatsoever".

"We are formally passing new laws and changing the old ones, but nobody is working on implementing these laws," he added.

Knezevic was reacting to Sertic's comments at the first session of the newly-formed Council for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises on Friday, when the minister insisted that such companies were key to Serbia's economic future.

"Creating conditions for the development of this sector requires the broad participation of a large number of ministries and public administration, as well as businessmen and professional associations," said Sertic.

But Knezevic said that the council, which is led by the finance minister, could only function properly if it was made up of experts.

He also said that higher taxes are stalling business development.

"We made some improvements, but now we have to pay higher taxes and that is leading us nowhere," he said.

Sasa Djogovic from the Institute of Market Research also said that forming such councils cannot help Serbian entrepreneurs.

"Instead of forming councils, we need to take concrete action. We need to make a triage of fiscal charges... and we need to lower taxes [for companies]," Djogovic told BIRN.

"Minister Sertic has to listen to the advice given to him by business representatives and take concrete action to improve business conditions," he added.

The latest World Bank 'Doing Business' ranking put Serbia in 91st place out of 189 countries worldwide - a fall of 14 places from...