The Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Goran Vesić, said that those politicians who advocate the termination of relations with the EU and the termination of the EU accession process are also advocating the economic ruin of Serbia.
“As a government member, I can tell you that the politicians who believe that we should break off relations with the EU, also believe that Serbia should disappear because Serbia would really disappear if it severed its ties with the EU,” Vesić told Tanjug news agency.
He also stated that a total of 9,568 companies founded with capital from the EU operate in Serbia, employing 281,841 workers, or 20.4 percent of the total registered workforce in Serbia.
Vesić added that companies, regardless of the origin of the capital, which produce and export more than 50 percent of their products to the EU market, employ 370,000 people in Serbia.
He also points out that a total of 17,700 Serbian companies, regardless of the origin of capital, export part of their products to EU countries and that these companies employ 675,000 workers.
“If our economic relations with the EU deteriorate and the number of employees in these companies decreases by only 10 percent, the state stands to lose 17 billion dinars a month in payroll tax and contributions. For that amount, we could provide salaries for about 16,000 workers in the education sector or about 14,000 medical workers”, said Vesić.
He added that the trade between Serbia and the EU amounts to 64 percent of Serbia’s total external trade.
“Although we are not formally a part of the EU, we are an economic part of the EU, because we lean on each other. In this sense, we are trying to synchronize our laws with the EU’s and, of course, achieve our most important political goal, which is to become an EU member,” said the transport minister.
Vesić also says that his Ministry has been investing a lot of effort into abolishing truck transit permits required by a number of EU countries.
(Politika, 21.02.2023)
https://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/538759/eu-kapital-stratesko-partnerstvo