MIHAJLOVIC: Around 2,500-3,000 people to leave Serbian Railways by the end of 2016

(Zorana Mihajlovic) The surplus of employees in Serbian Railways, according to the systematization of the enterprise, is between 2,500 and 3,000, and the negotiations with the unions are in progress. The nominal deadline, not yet definitive, should be the end of the year, stated Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic on June 14.

- Each week there are talks with the unions and no one will be let go before the social program has been defined and everything agreed on. The model which will be used for Serbian Railways will be implemented in the cases of other public enterprises – said Mihajlovic in her press statement at the Government of Serbia, following the meeting with the IMF.

Mihajlovic said that there were negotiations with five unions at Serbian Railways and that, related to the social program, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Finance were also involved.

- Serbian Railways will serve as the model for the payment of severance packages. There are still talks, it’s not yet decided when this will happen, and the suggestion is that the amounts should match those proposed in the Labor Law, plus 50% - said Mihajlovic and added that there were a lot of finer points regarding the accelerated pension plans.

- We plan to finalize the negotiations during the summer – said Mihajlovic and added that the timeframe for the finalization was the end of the year, but that it wasn’t definitive, as it was dependent on the course of the negotiations.

Mihajlovic also mentioned that Serbian Railways had defined the surplus property in the first listing and that it was determined that it was worth RSD 13 billion, which the enterprise meant to sell with the state’s assistance, in order to, as she said, pay off its old debts.