Serbia needs EUR 10.6 billion by 2019 for environmental protection

The latest estimates show that Serbia must procure EUR 10.6 billion by 2019 for switching to sustainable production and the construction of infrastructure, solving the problem of waste and waste water, and that the investments in the environment should reach 3% of GDP by 2021.

The vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Zoran Vujovic, says that Serbia's biggest expenses will be incurred for waste treatment and waste water management.

– We will need an additional EUR 5.6 billion for the water sector, EUR 2.8 billion for the waste segment, and, for the reduction of industrial pollution and noise, an additional EUR 1.3 billion. These are big expenses, especially considering that the current budget expenses for the environment make up 0.35% of GDP, that the infrastructure in this area is in a bad state and that the limiting prices of public utility services do not allow for investments – Vujovic emphasized.

The estimates are that Serbia is currently spending 0.9% of GDP on the environment, that there are also non-transparent encumbrances on local environmental taxes, recycling and packaging waste taxes and other administrative taxes, which is why the formation of a green fund is so important, as it enables all the assets collected from various sources to be concentrated and used more efficiently.

Vujovic said that financing environmental protection was an important and demanding endeavor, in which large expenses could be expected, but also great benefits at the end of the process of European integration.

Serbia has made great progress in the past two years by bringing the regulatory framework in line with European directives, which has opened the door for the beginning of negotiations on chapter 27 in late 2016 or early 2017 at the latest, he added.

Privredna komora Srbije

CCIS

Zoran Vujovic

investments in environment

sustainable production

waste

waste water

waste treatment

waste water management

industrial pollution

packaging waste

green fund

chapter 27