Leading Serbian businessmen meet with Vucic: Most complaints about slow obtaining of construction permits

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said this weekend at a meeting in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (CCIS) with representatives of more than 60 leading companies that he was dissatisfied with the work of the Development Agency and the Government of Serbia because they had not done enough to attract investments from China.

– Investments from China make up 34% and have approached EU investments of 37-38%. We haven’t even paid attention to Japan and Korea – said Vucic at the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, in a conversation with businessmen.

He added that “the French are uprooting vineyards” because they had no one to sell their wine to, and that it would be a “salvation” for Serbia four years later when customs duties on the export of Serbian wine to China were abolished.

The owner of Delta Holding, Miroslav Miskovic, said that the company was planning an investment of EUR 900 million in 2025, but that it had problems with obtaining construction permits.

– We cannot get permits, we are late with the construction of the Intercontinental, they promised to give permits this week. It is not right that we have a problem with permits – said Miskovic.

He added that there were also problems with the realization of investments in the region “because Delta cannot develop only in Serbia.”

He said that, for the realization of those investments, it was necessary for the president and members of the Government to provide support for the realization of investments abroad.

Vucic promised that the problem with the audit committee in the Ministry of Construction would be resolved in seven to ten days, but added that that did not mean that the law would be violated, but only that work was being done to solve the problem.

The owner of the MK Group, Aleksandar Kostic, said that the company was planning an investment of EUR 1.6 billion in wind and solar power plants, hotels and agriculture in the next four to five years, but that permits were a problem.

Kostic said that he had been waiting for permits for the alcohol factory in Kovacica for two years, and that he was in a dilemma whether to build a new factory for the meat industry because the capacities in Carnex were used up.

– Should I wait another two years for a new factory in which I would invest EUR 80 to 100 million? – asked Kostic.

The owner of the company Elixir Group, Stanko Popovic, suggested that the problem with obtaining building permits should be solved by looking up to Austria.

– The Austrians have recognized that obtaining building permits for industrial facilities takes 24 months and shortened the procedure to 12-15 months in accordance with EU regulations – said Popovic.

The owner of Iindustrija mesa Matijevic, Zoran Matijevic, pointed out that he had a problem with the delayed obtaining of construction permits.

When asked by Vucic what the problem was, “does anyone expect money, so that I know how to find a remedy,” Matijevic did not answer explicitly.

Matijevic also had objections as to why subsidies in agriculture were given only for a maximum of 100 hectares and for a limited number of heads of livestock.

– I raise 60,000 fattening animals, and subsidies are given for up to 6,000 heads. This creates room for manipulation because more farms are formed – said Matijevic.

The owner of the company Jela Jagodina, Miroljub Radovanovic, said that, two years before, he had signed a contract with Hold Center in the United Arab Emirates, which had more than 50 department stores for furniture.

The information from their procurement manager, as he said, was that “everything is great, that we have great products, that they want to work with us, but that it is an unwritten rule with us that someone from above has to push for it to enter the procedures.”

– If strings can be pulled, and here we hear that they can and they do invest here, we can export furniture to the Emirates – said Radovanovic.

He said that the capacity in the wood industry as far as raw materials were concerned was huge, and he assessed that no one recognized that industry and suggested starting the wood industry, such as subsidies for the purchase of machines.

Vucic said that he would immediately call Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan the next day in the afternoon.

– I will call him tomorrow, I will not wait until Monday. We certainly could have helped in this, for it not to last two years, but three months – said Vucic.

Vucic said that Serbia’s exports of logs, boards and furniture were three times smaller and added that that showed how “incompetent we are, first of all, how poorly the state has worked in that area.”

He pointed out that the state would deal with the development of the wood industry.

Predsedništvo Republike Srbije

Privredna komora Srbije

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

Mlekara a.d. Šabac

MK Group d.o.o. Beograd

Carnex d.o.o. Vrbas

Delta Holding d.o.o. Beograd

Razvojna agencija Srbije

Elixir group doo Novi Sad

IM Matijević d.o.o. Novi Sad

Srbija Kargo a.d. Beograd

Jela Jagodina d.o.o. Jagodina

Goša Holding a.d. Smederevska Palanka

Energoprojekt Holding a.d. Beograd

President of Serbia

Chamber of Commerce of Serbia

Ministry of Construction

MK group

Carnex

Delta holding

Development Agency of Serbia

Elixir group

Industrija mesa Matijević

Jela Jagodina

Miroljub Radovanović

Zoran Matijević

Stanko Popović

Aleksandar Vučić

Aleksandar Kostić

Miroslav Mišković

hotel Intercontinental

construction permits

alcohol factory in Kovačica

wood industry

export of logs