2.5 billion euros necessary for the preservation and maintenance of the private sector of Serbia

The new package of state support measures is significant and can affect the preservation of the private sector as a pillar and backbone of the Serbian economy, says the president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Marko Cadez.
He told reporters that the new measures come after the previous six billion euros that the state helped the economy with last year.
According to him, it is about an additional 2.5 billion euros, which, he says, are necessary for the preservation and maintenance of the private sector, primarily for the maintenance of employment.
He noted that the figures show that we have maintained a little better than might have been predicted when it comes to industrial production and maintaining employment levels.
– The unemployment rate is still below 10 percent, industrial production with the slightest growth, but still growth of 0.4 percent – said Cadez and thanked the Government of Serbia, the Ministry of Finance and the team of the President of Serbia who react in real time to economic problems.
He says that PKS is in constant communication with the companies, in order to see the situation on the ground and what needs to be paid attention to.
According to Cadez, what is important for the economy and SCC are two measures adopted from the list of SCC proposals, and among them is the continuation of the state guarantee for more favorable loans, in order to make it easier for the economy to get money to invest and continue to employ and produced undisturbed.
– We have announced new 500 million euros of support for guarantees from the Government, we have another 500 million from the last package that have not been used and we additionally have the DFC program which was announced for about a billion dollars – said Cadez.
That, he explained, means that we have almost two billion euros of necessary money for grants, which primarily means that companies can more easily take a loan that the state guarantees for them.
In the previous period, he says, 23,000 companies used this instrument and received loans, which, he points out, affected the preservation of the private sector.
– What was also our proposal is to immediately help the passenger road transport sector, which has had a huge problem with the decline in the number of passengers in the situation of the corona virus pandemic for a year. I see that the government has reacted adequately and we expect help of 600 euros per bus with road transport carriers. It is a measure that may not solve all the problem, but it can also enable them not to fire people – says Cadez.
Currently, about 20,000 people work in that sector, and Cadez states that it would be really problematic if those companies started firing drivers who are, by the way, deficient in our country.
The next measure, he says, is the continuation of the measure of direct support, three times at half the minimum, primarily for small and medium enterprises, and large companies are also being considered.
– For small and medium enterprises, this is a really big thing. We are talking about 1,253,000 employees, it is not a small thing. The state has shown that it wants to protect those who are most endangered, and those are small and medium enterprises – said Cadez.
He also states that the measure of support for spending through direct payment to citizens and pensioners is important.
– It was shown how important this measure was when it was brought along the way, because that money goes to the economy, to consumption, shopping and starts production – says Cadez.
He emphasized that all these measures can be important for the entire economy and for all citizens, but that vaccination is the most important measure.
– The sooner we create immunization, the easier it will be for the economy – Cadez believes and calls on all businessmen and citizens to receive the vaccine as soon as possible, because it is the most important medicine and measure for preserving all of us, Kurir reports.