Minister Siniša Mali spoke with German Ambassador Thomas Schieb

The interlocutors discussed three important projects with KFNj Bank that are currently under negotiation and that should be ratified in the National Assembly at the end of this year. This is the section 3-Obrenovac-Bajina Basta of the Transbalkan Corridor, then the energy efficiency project in public buildings and renewable energy sources in the district heating sector and the Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Program in medium-sized municipalities of Serbia All three projects are planned in the budget for 2021 and, as agreed by the interlocutors, are extremely important for the Republic of Serbia.

They agreed that the economy after the coronavirus pandemic must be transformed to be sustainable, and that is why it is important to invest in the so-called “Green Economy.” The joint projects that KFNj Bank is implementing with the Republic of Serbia are mentioned as part of that economy and to which both parties are fully committed.

Minister Mali thanked the ambassador for the support that Germany provides to Serbia, both in the form of joint projects and in the form of investments by German companies, and noted that we are absolutely committed to joint cooperation. He also said that Serbia is fully prepared to adapt to the new circumstances, both by investing in a sustainable economy and by investing more in digitization.

Ambassador Šib stated that the investors from that country working in Serbia remained optimistic, as well as that none of them canceled their investments, but that some investments were eventually carried over. He also said that you notice that more and more German investors are coming to Serbia, which is encouraging.

Minister Mali noted that next year the budget will include record allocations for capital projects, which will further influence the attraction of foreign investment. Mali also stated that in the budget for 2021, more money will be set aside for incentives for foreign investors to come to Serbia, and that a large number of investors are from Germany. He said that the economic situation in Serbia is completely stable, that thanks to the package of economic measures, economic activity has been fully maintained, and that all this has affected the good results in terms of economic growth, which, according to the Ministry of Finance, it will be this year. at the -1% level. As the Finance Minister said, that will be the best result in Europe.

The German ambassador also stated that this year marks the 20th anniversary of economic cooperation between Serbia and Germany, and that in that period around 2 billion euros were invested in Serbia. He concluded that all joint projects should help Serbia on its way to membership in the European Union.