VUJOVIC: Formation of bank for non-performing loans too expensive

(Dusan Vujovic)

Serbia has a problem with non-performing loans, but it is too expensive for us to form a bank that would assume bad loans, Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic said Tuesday in Vienna.

At the round table on Serbia held as part of the Euromoney conference, he explained that the problem with about 60-70% of non-performing loans could be solved if the Ministry worked with the National Bank of Serbia and the banking sector to find a solution.

Vujovic reiterated that he had also discussed this problem earlier with the investment fund Goldman Sachs.

According to him, it is more efficient and cheaper for Serbia to seek solution for property management methods in cooperation with banks and the NBS.

Enterprises and banks, as he noted, are not transparent enough for international institutions and, therefore, they can overvalue their services.