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Serbian businessmen are becoming more and more concerned about their business, as a new wave of the corona virus is sweeping our country. The latest measures to combat the pandemic include reducing working hours for certain sectors, while some activities have previously been affected by the whole situation, which has been developing since March, so many are running out of energy and fear a new closure.
That would significantly affect the survival of many businesses, and that is why companies remember their main problems every day and ask for additional help from the state. The problem is even greater considering the increasingly frequent announcements from officials that we are one step away from closing. The new official information is that 44,000 people have lost their jobs in Serbia since the start of the pandemic.
As pointed out by the Employers’ Union, the new measures proposed to the Government of Serbia together with the Chamber of Commerce are necessary for the survival of some sectors of the economy, and it is important to implement them selectively.
The list states that VAT for the hotel and catering sector will be reduced to 10 percent. They also demanded that the payment of taxes and contributions be postponed, that is, that they be partially amortized in the SME sector, but also that the introduction of local and state taxes and tariffs be stopped, and that the liquidity guarantee scheme continue of small and medium enterprises.
One of the proposals is to provide compensation in cases where the employer does not hire a full-time employee due to the reduced volume of work, because, as it states, such employers “can hardly continue” in the circumstances of reduced turnover .
The Union adds that for companies, the beginning of the year is somewhat more uncertain and weaker for businesses, and deferred obligations will arrive in 2020, and that is why a new deferral of payments has been proposed.
“These are amounts that have been accumulated in some way in relation to this year in which the state helped with the salaries of the employees, but the obligations to pay taxes and contributions remain,” explained Nebojsa Atanackovic, honorary president of the Union of Entrepreneurs, adding that obligations should be postponed. that will emerge during the next year.
Employers support working from home, reducing the risk of contagion, and also claim that due to lack of work, it is necessary to work significantly less time.
The industry is already falling
The president of the company “Galeb Group”, Radoslav Veselinović, says that the industry in general is in decline and that now the only question is how much each sector suffers.
“Most of the consequences are felt by service activities, hospitality, tourism, hospitality, traffic. There is already a delay in the deliveries of raw materials, then we are behind in production, it is a chain that will cause a drop in turnover, total income, profit … In such circumstances it is very delicate to say whether to resort to a more serious conclusion, ”emphasizes Veselinović.
Incidentally, the latest data shows that more than 50 percent of tourism intermediary workers have lost their jobs since March and more layoffs are expected in the next period.
Professor Ljubodrag Savić at the Belgrade Faculty of Economics points out that we are entering a rather difficult and uncertain period.
With the new reduction in working hours, the most threatened are the sectors that work in “third shift”, such as cafes or discos. However, these businesses still have room to survive, although not to earn too much. A bigger problem will be if there are additional closures, because the pandemic takes eight months and it is one thing when the flu hits a healthy organism, and something completely different when it attacks an exhausted body, “says Savić, explaining that most companies already they are tired, their business “condition” is reduced, stocks are less, many have lost business partners since March …
Two packages of measures for the economy
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Serbian government has adopted various packages of measures to support the economy. The first package was “heavy” 5.1 billion euros, or 608.3 billion dinars.
The first set of measures in this package referred to tax deductions, that is, the deferral of payment of tax obligations owed, with subsequent repayment in installments. The second set involved direct payments to companies through the payment of three minimum wages.
The third set of measures was aimed at preserving the liquidity of economic entities, while the fourth set concerned the payment of direct aid worth 100 euros in dinars to all adult citizens of Serbia.
At the end of July, another package of aid for the economy was brought: the payment twice for 60 percent of the minimum wage, as well as the deferral of taxes and contributions on wages for a month.
Businessmen in Croatia threaten blockades
After the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković presented new measures against the coronavirus, according to which the work of cafes and restaurants, as well as gyms, is prohibited since yesterday, the businessmen of the neighborhood are more than outraged. The main topic of his talks with the government now are the measures with which the state plans to compensate employers who will be prevented from working due to the new measures.
The new measures provoked violent reactions from businessmen, and the president of the Voz de Emprendedores Association, Hrvoje Bujas, says they are ready for strikes and blockades in the private sector.
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