Serbia is preparing second package of measures to help the economy: Here's answers to some concerns

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The state is preparing a second set of measures to assist the economy, waiting for the guidance stemming from the first set of measures, to harmonize and implement them.

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Additionally, the first payment of the first minimum monthly wage will be in mid-May, said Mihailo Vesovic of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS).

"We do not fully know the interpretation of these measures and how they will be implemented. I am pleased that we got the measures at this pace. First, for the sake of predictability. I have information that in mid-May, there will be the first payment of the first minimum wages. We have launched an official initiative and I believe that by mid-next week we will have official information on the implementation of the measures. There is also room for work within the new measures, primarily through sectoral measures," he said while attending an online conference dubbed, "Business in Challenging Times."

According to him, it is very important for the economy to realize that it has to take on a portion of the crisis.

These are, according to Vesovic, stabilization measures, and the state must not be led to a dead-end street.

As he said, the measures, that is, their implementation is valid from April 1 onwards, that is, they are unlikely to cover March.

The economy lacks implementation, documents

The time has come for the economy to pay wages, to pay the rent, the conference said. However, the certainty is now much grater and, according to private sector representatives, the measures are good, aimed primarily at entrepreneurs to help them through this difficult period.

"However, we lack implementation. The documents - the way the measures will be implemented in technical terms," said Dragoljub Damljanovic, the president of SAM.

As he said, the business environment has realized that the state wants to stand behind them and that the jobs in the sector are important to it.

"The biggest problem is the length of this condition, it is difficult to predict. It is very important for the Labor Law to become a little more flexible," he said.

What does the moratorium on dividends mean?

After being presented with the package of measures, businesspeople also wondered what the moratorium on dividends meant - that is, whether everyone was forbidden from collecting profits, and what the purpose of the measure was.

"It focuses mainly on foreign companies that need to pay a dividend. We cannot pay dividends to our shareholders now. Honestly, I don’t see the effects of that. It is not clear to me technically, I am waiting to see the implementation, how we will apply those 50 percent of wages when it comes to large companies," says Damljanovic.

(Telegraf Biznis)