Fiat strike reducing Serbia’s exports – Italian company’s leaving Kragujevac potentially a great problem

The biggest problem within Serbia’s economy at the moment in the strike at the Kragujevac-based Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Serbia factory, as the overall exports of Serbia are dropping due to the halt in the production, economist Stojan Stamenkovic said on July 6.

He said at the presentation of the latest issue of Makroekonomske Analize i Trendovi at the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia that the motor vehicle and trailer production sector, which includes car production, was still the leading sector in Serbia regarding export, but that the contribution of the branch to overall exports was dropping due to the strike.

– At this moment, it’s impossible to calculate the damage incurred by the halt of the production in Fait’s factory in Kragujevac, as it is not known how long the strike will take – Stamenkovic said.

According to him, “if the speculations about the company’s leaving Serbia came true, it could pose a bigger problem for the economic policy than the restructuring of public enterprises”.

He added that many of the goals agreed at the moment of the company’s arrival to Serbia had not been achieved either by Fiat or the state of Serbia.

– The state has not provided Fiat with the agreed infrastructure, whereas Fiat has not modernized the 500L model as promised, and the vehicle is too expensive as well – Stamenkovic said.

The director of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, Miladin Kovacevic, said that there were reasons why Fiat might find it hard to decide to leave Serbia.

– The Italian company has invested a lot of money in the Kragujevac factory, and another reason making their leaving difficult is that Serbia is one of the countries with the cheapest workforce – Kovacevic said.

FCA Srbija Kragujevac

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Serbia

car export

car production

Stojan Stamenkovic

Makroekonomske Analize i Trendovi magazine

motor vehicle and trailer production

Fiat strike

Fiat 500L

Fiat