BUSINESS NEWS OF THE WEEK

Serbia, IMF Agree On 4% Of GDP Budget Gap For 2010
Serbian government and International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives agreed that a deficit of 4% of the GDP was a realistic starting basis for the planning of the 2010 Serbian budget. Serbia would withdraw EUR 700 million from the loan arrangement, instead of the planned EUR 1.4 billion for the second and third instalments, since it was concluded that the macroeconomic situation in Serbia had improved significantly. The government also said that in Serbia there would certainly not be a tax increase because budget revenues had improved and because the GDP in the third quarter was 2.7 percent larger than in the second quarter of this year. (Source: Blic)

Turkish Turker To Become Majority Owner Of Bujanovacka Spa Resort
Turkish company "Turker" is going to become the majority owner of Bujanovacka spa resort, with the obligation to invest in wellness centre in Bujanovac and tourism development in that region. The Ministry of Economy of Serbia and Turkish company "Turker" signed the Memorandum of understanding for the company's investments in Bujanovacka spa resort. "Turker" would be the majority owner, while Serbia would be the minority partner in that joint venture - said Minister Dinkic. Dinkic said that the concrete amount of the investment would be defined in the following period. (Source: Beta)

Four U.S. Companies Interested In Serbia
Four American companies are looking for locations to open up factories in Serbia. Boston Power, one of the leading producers of lithium batteries in America, is considering several locations for opening up a production factory in Serbia. The company is one of four American firms with officials planning a visit to Belgrade to meet with Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic. Pharmasphere LLC, Metric Engineering and Tech NuVo are the other three companies. “Even though the preliminary talks with these companies have finished and a serious interest was confirmed by the American side for investments and expanding their factories in Serbia, it is still too early to say how many people could receive jobs. We will be able to talk about new jobs and the level of investments after these meetings,” said Aleksandar Miloradovic of the SIEPA organization. (Source: Blic)

Serbia’s Trade Surplus With CEFTA Countries EUR 700m
In the first eight months of 2009 Serbia exported € 1.2 billion worth of goods to CEFTA countries and imported goods to the amount of € 500 million. Next year, when Serbia takes over the CEFTA presidency, will be in interests to continue talks on the liberalization of services, improvement of investment conditions and better integration in the region. Serbian Deputy PM and the Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic believes the surplus will outstrip EUR 1 billion by the end of the year. Serbia placed 36 percent of its export to the CEFTA market and 54 percent to the EU market. (Source: Tanjug)