EBRD's aid to small and mid-sized enterprises in amount of 1m EUR

Government of Netherlands in cooperation with European Bank for Rehabilitation and Development (EBRD) set aside 1m EUR worth of aid for small and mid-sized enterprises in Serbia.

- EBRD is the bank that does not neglect the development of the sectors that are the working engine of the economic potential of the country - said the Ambassador of Kingdom of Netherlands to Serbia Ron van Dartel.

He pointed out that SME sector in Netherlands and EU employed two thirds of the workers, while in Serbia it employed 53% of the total number of employees. Because of that, for the sake of increase in competitiveness of the domestic economy and higher employment rate, 106 programs for allotment of aid to small companies will be realized within the next 18 months and nearly one fourth of the planned investments has already entered the procedure.

- The program support will be given only to those companies whose field of work is food-processing and production of building materials. The condition for financial and consulting aid is that the company exists for at least two years, that it is a private property or that the domestic stockholders own majority share of the assets - Dartel explained.