Kovacevic: Foreign Investors Would Leave Serbia at the Invitation of Their Governments Despite the Cheap Labor Force

The foreign investment consultant Milan Kovacevic has stated that investors from European countries and the USA would fully accept the invitation to punish Serbia in case it rejected the German-French plan for the negotiations about Kosovo.

– They would forget about everything, the cheap electricity, gas, labor force in Serbia, only those who would be able to keep jobs without it being visible would stay. This can also be seen from the example of Russia. All American companies and companies from other countries which have imposed sanctions against Russia have responded to the invitations of their governments and left that country – Kovacevic said for Beta.

The president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said that representatives of the EU, USA, Germany, France and Italy had told him the week before that, if he rejected the EU plan for Kosovo, the investments in Serbia would be stopped and then withdrawn from the country.

Kovacevic said that he had been surprised in 1992, when the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions against Yugoslavia, that General Motors, which had been an investor in the foundry in Kikinda, had immediately sought help in order to terminate all the agreements, even the one on the rent of space for the accommodation of the workers, with the explanations that the nature of the sanctions was such that they couldn’t have any relations with Yugoslavia.

– That’s how things work in the West, both the citizens and the companies are loyal to their governments, they listen to what they’re told and the sanctions, if they are imposed, will be implemented to the fullest extent now as well. The investments are insured and those companies will get certain damages payments from the insurance companies.

He added that the withdrawal of the investors would have great consequences for Serbia, that workers would lose their jobs, that the export and import would be reduced, because big foreign investments had been made in companies a good number of which produce car parts which are sold in the foreign market, and that the gross domestic product (GDP) would drop.

Sanctions against Serbia now, he said, might be a little different than those from 1992.

– They would probably not impose total sanctions now, a ban on imports, exports, payments, but they would instead start with some sanctions that would be a great blow to Serbia, expecting a change of mind, because it’s more useful for them – Kovacevic said.

Milan Kovačević

Aleksandar Vučić

sanctions

recognition of Kosovo and Metohija

foreign investments

attracting foreign investments