Vlada Republike Srbije Intervju: dr Dejan Popovi, ambasador u Londonu

Zainteresovanost engleskih investitora za Srbiju

- Engleski investitori planiraju ulaganja u Srbiju. - British American Tobacco do sada najvie investirao u Srbiju. - Danubius Group eli da kupi neke srpske banje.

Zainteresovanost engleskih investitora za Srbiju

Investors in Great Britain expressing more interest in investments in Serbia Dr. Dejan Popovi, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in UK explains the possibilities to promote economic relations between Serbia and United Kingdom and prospects to increase British investments in Serbia. Are foreign investors expressing their interest to invest in Serbia through the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in London? - In the conditions of global crisis, which especially strongly affected the United Kingdom, it could not be said that there has been particular interest in investments in generally, and especially not in investments in a country such as Serbia that has not been in the focus of interests of British business circles. British direct investments in Serbia in the period 20012008 amounted to about 300 million dollars, thus ranking the United Kingdom at seventh place when referring to the stricture of investments by country origin. In that period total foreign investments in Serbia amounted about 12 billion dollars. However, being in the capacity of Ambassador of Serbia to St. James Court, I may say that in spite of the current circumstances there are some interests expressed for investments and that there is certain number of serious investors planning to invest in Serbia. Investitori u Velikoj Britaniji pokazuju vee interesovanje za ulaganje u Srbiju. Dr Dejan Popovi, ambasador Republike Srbije u Velikoj Britaniji, objanjava kakve su mogunosti unapreenja privrednih odnosa Srbije i Velike Britanije i izgledi za poveanje britanskih investicija u Srbiju. Da li strani investitori preko ambasada Republike Srbije u Londonu pokazuju interesovanje za ulaganje u Srbiju? - U uslovima globalne ekonomske krize, koja je posebno otro pogodila Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo, ne moe se rei da postoji naroit interes za investicije uopte, a posebno ne u privredu zemlje poput Srbije, koja ni ranije nije bila u fokusu interesovanja britanskih poslovnih krugova. Britanske direktne investicije u Srbiji u periodu 2001-2008. godine bile su oko 300 miliona USD, to Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo stavlja na Are interests for greenfields investments bigger from those for acquisition of enterprises through privatization? - Historically, the biggest British investment made in Serbia so far has been the acquisition of Vranje Tobacco Industry by British American Tobacco in 2003 (87 million euros). Meanwhile, there were several greenfield investments Agena Technology has build a factory in Peinci for production of customer-tailed machinery and employed 180 workers; Albon Engineering is building the car spare parts factory also in the town of Peinci (investment project value 8 million euros); Greenhouse Investments have realized with Tigar company from Pirot a joint venture amounting to 40 million euros for the production of rubber products, etc. However, in my opinion there is much more interest in enterprises acquisition through privatization. Thus, Danubius

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Government of the Republic of Serbia Interview: Dr. Dejan Popovi, Ambassador in London

British Businessmen Interested for Investments in Serbia

- British investors planning to invest in Serbia - British American Tobacco biggest investor in Serbia so far - Danubius Group wants to buy some of Serbian spas

British Businessmen Interested for Investments in Serbia

sedmo mesto na rang-listi drava prema poreklu investicija. Ukupne direktne strane investicije u Srbiju u tom periodu iznosile su oko 12 milijardi USD. Meutim, sa poloaja ambasadora Srbije na Dvoru Sent Dejmsa mogu primetiti da odreena zainteresovanost za ulaganja postoji i da, ak i u datim okolnostima, jedan broj ozbiljnih investitora planira da ulae u srpsku privredu. Da li je vee interesovanje za grinfild investicije ili za kupovinu preduzea u privatizaciji? - Istorijski posmatrano, do sada najveu britansku investiciju u Srbiji predstavljala je kupovina Duvanske industrije Vranje od strane British American Tobacco-a 2003. godine (87 miliona evra). U meuvremenu je bilo nekoliko grinfild investicija Agena Technology je u Peincima izgradila fabriku maina po porudbini, zaposlivi 180 radnika; Albon Engineering gradi fabriku auto-delova, takoe u Peincima (uz vrednost investicije od 8 miliona evra); Greenhouse Investments je ostvario zajedniko ulaganje sa pirotskim Tigrom u proizvodnju gumenih proizvoda u vrednosti od 40 miliona evra i dr. Meutim, procenjujem da je ipak vee interesovanje za kupovinu preduzea u privatizaciji. Tako, Danubius Group eli da kupi nekoliko srpskih banja Banju Koviljau, Vrnjaku banju i Ribarsku banju. O tim namerama Ambasada Srbije u Londonu je od poetka obavetavana, aktivno podravajui kontakte potencijalnog investitora sa nadlenim ministarstvima i organima lokalne samouprave. Napominjem da su pojedini investicioni fondovi sa seditem u Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu (npr. Ashmore) ve kupili neka srpska preduzea (npr. Karneks iz Vrbasa), dok je Merrilll Lynch kupio 25 % udela u MPC-u. Za koje sektore se najvie interesuju strani investitori i da li je dolo do nekih konkretnih aranmana? - Pored navedene zainteresovanosti za ulaganja u banjski turizam, postoje izgledi da investicioni fond EMAC i BP Chemicals preuzmu SK Kikinda (investicija vredna oko 100 miliona dolara). Privredna delegacija Jorkira poetkom maja boravi u Beogradu, sa eljom da ispita mogunosti za ulaganja u srpsku privredu.

Group wants to buy several Serbian spas Koviljaa spa, Vrnjaka spa and Ribarska spa. Serbian Embassy in London has provided information on these plans from the beginning and supported actively the contacts between the potential investors and relevant ministries and local self-management bodies. I would like to stress that some investment funds based in United Kingdom (e.g. Ashmore) have already bought some Serbian enterprises (e.g. Carneks from Vrbas), and Merrill Lynch has acquired 25% share in MPC. For which sectors are foreign investors mostly interested and were there some concrete arrangements? - In addition to the mentioned interest in investing in spas tourism, it seems that the investment fund EMAC and PB Chemicals will acquire MSK Kikinda (value of investment about 100 million dollars). Early in May, business mission from Yorkshire will visit Belgrade in order to study the possibilities to invest in Serbia. In which way is the Embassy in London disseminating information on possibilities to invest in Serbia? - The Embassy has participating actively in the preparation of the visit of Business mission from Yorkshire. In January 2009, in cooperation with Yorkshire Society and with support of Serbian Diaspora, Serbian Chamber of Commerce and SIEPA, it has organized the presentation of Serbian possibilities in Leeds. The same presentation we had in Birmingham where I had contacts with the Chamber of Commerce of the Black Country. I am in contacts with the EBRD all the time, and we are preparing very good presentation of Serbia to be held in autumn with the participation of high officials both from Serbia and EBRD. Have the efforts on promoting the image of Serbian business given some results? - Presidential and parliamentary elections held last year in Serbia have brought up some changes in British perception of Serbia in general, and in particularly of the image of business climate. I have the impression that after some stoppage during the last few years, the UK public has started again to take Serbia more seriously as prospective candidate for the EU membership and as a result it seems that these rather modest economic cooperation achieved so far could be enlarged

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Vlada Republike Srbije

Na koji nain ambasada u Londonu prua informacije o mogunostima investiranja u Srbiju? - Ambasada je aktivno uestvovala u pripremi posete privredne delegacije Jorkira, utoliko to je u januaru 2009. godine, sa Yorkshire Society i uz podrku srpske dijaspore, Privredne komore Srbije i SIEPA, organizovala predstavljanje Srbije u Lidsu. Na slian nain nastupili smo i u Birmingemu, gde sam razgovarao sa Privrednom komorom oblasti Black Country. Neprestano sam u kontaktu sa EBRD-om, gde za jesen pripremamo ozbiljnu prezentaciju Srbije uz uee visokih zvaninika, kako iz Srbije, tako i iz EBRD-a. Da li se u poslednje vreme vide rezultati poboljanja poslovnog imida Srbije? - Prologodinji predsedniki i parlamentarni izbori u Srbiji doveli su do odreene promene u britanskoj percepciji Srbije uopte, i njenog poslovnog imida posebno. Stiem utisak da je, posle odreenog zastoja tokom poslednjih nekoliko godina, javnost u Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu ponovo poela da ozbiljno uzima Srbiju kao budueg kandidata za lanstvo u Evropskoj uniji, te skromni okviri dosadanje ekonomske saradnje mogu u narednim godinama, uprkos globalnoj krizi, biti ozbiljnije proireni. Tu naroito imam u vidu spoljnotrgovinsku razmenu, koja je na godinjem nivou od oko 200 miliona dolara uvoza iz Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva i oko 150 miliona dolara naega izvoza u tu zemlju. Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo je na 15. mestu po vrednosti naeg izvoza, a tek na 25. mestu po vrednosti naeg uvoza. Britansko trite, iako probirljivo, otvoreno je za nae izvoznike koji do sada nisu umeli da iskoriste sve mogunosti koje se pruaju. Tu, pre svega, imam u vidu lance robnih kua (Waitrose, Tesco), u kojima se srpski poljoprivredni proizvodi mogu nai u mnogo veim koliinama nego to je do sada bio sluaj. Britansko trite prua ozbiljne potencijale za rast i u prodaji turistikih usluga naroito u vezi sa, u Velikoj Britaniji veoma popularnim, novosadskim EXIT-om, te atrakcijama kao to su Putevi rimskih imperatora ili krstarenja rekom Dunav. Da li Velika Britanija ekonomski podrava Srbiju i na koji nain? - Sveobuhvatno istraivanje naina donoenja odluka o investicijama u zemlje jugoistone Evrope, obavljeno pod okriljem OECD i Pakta za stabilnost, pokazalo je da strateki investitori najvei znaaj pridaju politikoj stabilnosti, vladavini prava (ukljuujui nivo korupcije) i teini tereta administracije kada se opredeljuju da li e ulagati u Srbiju, BiH, Makedoniju ili neku etvrtu dravu. Ambasada Srbije u Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu zato ulae napore da informie britansku poslovnu i najiru javnost o napretku koji je u Srbiji ostvaren u tim oblastima.

Zainteresovanost engleskih investitora za Srbiju

in the coming years in spite of the global crisis. Here I am particularly referring too foreign trade with Serbian imports from UK amounting to about 200 million dollars per year and exports to UK about 150 million dollars. United Kingdom is ranking at 15th place by the value of our exports, and 25th by the value of our exports. In spite of being demanding, British market is opened for our exporters which have not used all offered possibilities so far. Here, I primarily have in mind retail sail chains (Waitrose, Tesco) in which there should be much more Serbian agricultural products than it has been the case until today. British market offers great potentials for growth and sale in tourism especially related to Novi Sad EXIT event which is very popular in Great Britain, and also to attractive products such as Following the Roman Emperors Routes, or cruises on the Danube. s the United Kingdom supporting Serbian economy and in what way? - A comprehensive study supported by the OECD and Stability Pact related to the decision bringing on investments in countries of South East Europe showed that strategic investors attach special importance to political stability, rule of law (including corruption level) and administrative burden when they are deciding to invest in Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina or some other country. This is why Serbian Embassy to the United Kingdom is making efforts to inform the British business circles and public on progress that has been made by Serbia in these fields. What are the bilateral economic relations between Serbia and United Kingdom like? - In principle, United Kingdom is supporting the idea on the EU enlargement to Western Balkans and due to this reason Serbia enjoys support from London for its European ambitions. - British Government is ready to support, in principle, the application of Interim Trade Agreement between EU and Serbia; although in its view Serbia has to prove full cooperation with the ICTY. Consequently, in case that the procedure for ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement is unfrozen and Serbia submits its candidacy for the EU membership, United Kingdom will be among the countries that will support further proceedings, simultaneously insisting on the fulfillment of all conditions posed to candidate countries. At what level are economic relations between the Republic of Serbia and United Kingdom and are they progressing? - United Kingdom has significant influence in decision bringing in international financial organizations (MMF, World Bank, etc.) and thus, through the support provided by them to Serbia, it supports indirectly financing of institutional reforms and infrastructural projects.

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Government of the Republic of Serbia

Kakvi su bilateralnu ekonomski odnosi Srbije i Velike Britanije? - Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo je principijelan zagovornik proirenja Evropske unije na Zapadni Balkan i zato Srbija uiva u Londonu podrku za svoje evropske ambicije. Britanska vlada je, u naelu, spremna da podri primenu Privremenog trgovinskog sporazuma izmeu EU i Srbije, mada smatra da Srbija mora da ostvari punu saradnju sa Hakim tribunalom. Dakle, ukoliko postupak ratifikacije Sporazuma o stabilizaciji i pridruivanju bude odmrznut i Srbija podnese svoju kandidaturu za lanstvo u EU, Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo e biti meu onim evropskim dravama koje e podravati dalji postupak, insistirajui, pri tom, na doslednom ispunjenju uslova koji se postavljaju zemljama kandidatima. Na kom nivou su ekonomski odnosi Republike Srbije i Velike Britanije i da li dolazi do unapredjenja? - Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo ima znaajan uticaj u donoenju odluka u meunarodnim finansijskim organizacijama (MMF, Svetska banka i dr.), te kroz podrku koju one pruaju Srbiji indirektno pomae finansiranje institucionalnih reformi i infrastrukturnih projekata. Postoje informacije da je Export Credit Guarantee Department zainteresovan da sa 100 miliona funti prui podrku britanskim izvoznicima i investitorima u Srbiju. Kave su perspektive ekonomskih odnosa Srbije i Velike Britanije? - Imajui u vidu dosadanji skroman obim spoljnotrgovinske saradnje i britanskih direktnih investicija u Srbiju, miljenja sam da su perspektive za napredak u godinama koje su pred nama sasvim dobre. Kako se Srbija bude pribliavala lanstvu u Evropskoj uniji, tako e tamna senka devedesetih godina sve vie bledeti, a spremnost britanskih poslovnih krugova da uu na srpsko trite postajae sve izraenija.

Some information indicates that Export Credit Guarantee Department is interested to provide support to British exporters and investments in Serbia in the value of GBP 100 million. What are the prospects for economic relations between Serbia and Great Britain? - Bearing in mind rather modest volume of foreign trade and British investments in Serbia, I think that prospect for the coming years are quite promising. With Serbia progressing to become EU member, the dark shadow from the 90s will become faded, and readiness of British business circles to penetrate Serbian market will become more outstanding.

British Businessmen Interested for Investments in Serbia

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

28 Belgrave Square LONDON SW1X 8QB GREAT BRITAIN TEL 44 207 235 9049 FAX 44 207 235 7092 E-mail: london@serbianembassy.org.uk

www.serbianembassy.org.uk

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