Serbia – Media Review – December 23

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- Serbia will collect 511 billion dinars in taxes this year, the head of Serbia’s Tax Administration, Dragutin Radosavljevic, said, adding that the sum is 2.0% higher than initially planned.

- The government in Belgrade will invest 900 million dinars in upgrading its Kopaonik ski resort in south-central Serbia next year, Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said. The bulk of the investments will go towards upgrading infrastructure and private companies will be invited to take part as co-investors, Dinkic added. The government has earmarked 700 million dinars for upgrading the Kopaonik waterworks with the construction slated to start in 2011.

DANAS

- Serbia’s tender for a second domestic provider of fixed-line voice services could fail as all four potential bidders plan to not file offers, unnamed sources from two potential bidders said. The companies are considering not bidding after state-owned Telekom Srbija, the sole provider of fixed-line services in the country, said it will raise the price for using its infrastructure in order to hurt competition, according to unnamed sources. The tender winner will have to rely on Telekom’s infrastructure to provide fixed-line voice services in the country.

VECERNJE NOVOSTI

- Serbia will adopt a restitution law during the first half of 2010, not by the end of this year as planned, unnamed government sources said. The delay is due to the lack of political consensus on a number of changes that the new law will bring about.

(1 euro=96.4440 Serbian dinars)