The European Union (EU) has allocated 78 million euro for financial assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises in Serbia, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Mateja Norcic Stamcar said yesterday.
At the forum helping small and medium-sized enterprises cope with the consequences of the pandemic, she said that the aid was approved within the framework of joint programming with the Government of Serbia.
The aid is, in fact, part of a larger package, worth 93 million euro, that the EU has made available for the fight against COVID-19 and its economic consequences through the EU PRO programme.
“The financial support is given to innovations and for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas, under the auspices of the EU PRO programme. The pandemic has not changed the fact that the EU is the first trading partner, investor and donor in Serbia,” said Norcic Stamcar.
She added that further reforms, and not only economic ones, but also reforms of a more political nature such as the judiciary and the rule of law, go hand in hand.
“To date, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has invested over 4.2 billion euro in the Western Balkans, making it one of the leading financial institutions in the region,” said Alessandro Bragonzi, head of the EIB’s regional office for the Western Balkan countries. According to him, the money was used to support more than 28,000 companies in the region.
(Novi Magazin, 30.03.2021)
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