Greek companies to stay in Serbia

Greece is one of the largest investors in the Serbian economy, with the investments exceeding EUR 2.2 billion, Serbian Minister of Economy and Regional Development Nebojsa Ciric said last night, at the Serbia-Greece Economic Forum, and stressed that none of Greek companies had withdrawn from Serbia to date.

Greek banks in Serbia hold about 15% of the market, so that Greece is an important player for the Serbian economy, Ciric said to the press at the two-day Forum: Bilateral Trade and Regional Synergies between Greece and Serbia, which is organized in Belgrade by Eurobank EFG.

He stated that 100 Greek companies and 150 Greek-Serbian companies were operating in Serbia, which resulted in the employment of 25,000 people at Greek companies in our country.

According to Ciric's words, his ministry has supported the two-day conference in Belgrade, which will gather companies and businessmen of these neighboring countries and enable direct contacts between companies and banks, with the aim of launching regional initiatives for the increased volume of investment in Serbia.

Ciric assessed that Serbia was carefully monitoring financial situation in Greece because of a significant presence of Greek banks in Serbia, adding that the amount of investments and loans to the Serbian economy and citizens remained the same.

None of the Greek companies has withdrawn from Serbia so far, he stressed. The only thing that may happen, as he explained, is that the companies that planned to expand their business decide to postpone such action for some better time.

President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC) Milos Bugarin pointed out that the volume of foreign trade exchange between Serbia and Greece had been increased by 13% over the previous eight months.

Deficit will this year be much lower than in 2008, which means that, regardless of the crisis, compatible economies can find the way to improve their cooperation even in difficult times, Bugarin assessed.

Eurobank EFG Belgrade Executive Director Philipos Caramanolis stressed that Serbia was important to Greece because of its positive economic prospects, approach to the European Union (EU), and free access to the Russian market.

He pointed out that Eurobank EFG was among the top five banks in the banking market of Serbia and the 12th largest foreign investor.