DRAKULIC: If there are massive layoffs, there will be social unrest

The president of the “Privrednik” club, Zoran Drakulic, has said that social unrest may occur in Serbia if the crisis continues and there are substantial layoffs in early 2021.

Drakulic said for Vreme that he hoped his predictions about massive layoffs wouldn't come true.

– I sincerely hope that the projections that 200,000 to 300,000 people are going to lose their jobs won't come true, because it could cause serious social unrest – Drakulic said.

Commenting of the proposition of the Serbian Association of Employers to put a moratorium on the increase of the minimum wage and the trade unions' request to increase the minimum wage, Drakulic said that the minimum wage in Serbia was shameful.

– On the other hand, this is the biggest crisis. At the moment, the only logical solution is to increase the minimum wage, up to 35,000 dinars – Drakulic said.

He said that “until the best business people are not included in the creation of the business environment and until they stop being treated as nothing more than the means of political back-and-forth, the Serbian economy will not be able to make any important steps or realize a substantial growth of the GDP”.

About the national stadium

When asked by Vreme how appropriate investments such as the national stadium are in the new economic circumstances, Drakulic said that he was not against a national stadium, but that the time was not right.

– In any case, the domestic football does not deserve it at the moment, considering their results, nor should this be a priority project in this kind of economic situation. The argument about raising the price of some private land through this investment is ridiculous – Zoran Drakulic told the Vreme weekly.

Srpski poslovni klub Privrednik Beograd

Unija poslodavaca Srbije Beograd

Privrednik club

Serbian Association of Employers

Zoran Drakulić

social unrest

massive layoffs

minimum wage

GDP

national stadium