Wednesday, 11 April 2018

42nd Sitting of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending

At the sitting held on 11 April, the members of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending deliberated on the bills on the agenda for the Third Sitting of the First Regular Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2018.


At the proposal of Committee Deputy Chairman Milan Lapcevic the Committee decided to complete a joint debate on all 16 of the items on its agenda.

Nenad Mijailovic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said that the Committee is to tackle a set of financial laws which balance out budget and fiscal effects, are adjusted to the efforts to prevent money laundering, while the tax bills concern Tax Administration reform.

The Bill amending and modifying the Law on Foreign Currency Transactions concerns the free movement of capital, as per SAA, in preparation for the opening of Negotiation Chapter 4. The Bill primarily concerns the operation of foreign exchange offices viz. the supervision of their operation is to be transferred from the Tax Administration to the National Bank of Serbia.

The amendments to the Law on Accounting, Law on Auditing and the Law on Factoring follow the recommendations as regards the supervision over the non-financial sector and the companies involved in these activities have to adjust their respective regulations with the proposed amendments within six months.

The Bill amending and modifying the Law on Games of Chance introduces a small number of changes defining the persons who can organize games of chance.

The Bill amending and modifying the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration introduces five groups of changes concerning the program of transformation of the Tax Administration, boosting the efficiency of tax collection, regulating the status of Tax Administration employees, the transference of supervision over the operation of currency exchange offices from the Tax Administration to the National Bank of Serbia, and other changes the most important of them being the establishment of a single register for the monitoring of tax collection at the level of local self-governments.

The amendments and modifications to the Value Added Tax Law harmonize the VAT Law with the Law on Financial Support to Families with Children, concern exemption from duties for certain categories of producers, lower tax rates for pet food and VAT reimbursement for foreign taxpayers.

The Bill amending and modifying the Excise Tax Law waives excise duties to certain oil derivatives used in industrial production.

The Bill Granting Guarantee by the Republic of Serbia in favour of German Development Bank KfW, Frankfurt-am-Main, to settle the debt of Electric Power Industry of Serbia Public Enterprise, Belgrade (Renewable Energy Project Wind Park Kostolac) concerns a 96 million EUR project, 16 million of which come from EPS, while 80 million is secured by the loan. The loan comes with a fixed interest rate of 0.85% a year and 15-year maturity period.

The Bill amending the Law Granting Guarantee by the Republic of Serbia in favour of OTP Bank Serbia Ltd. Novi Sad, Banca Intesa Ltd. Belgrade, NBG Bank Malta LTD, ''AIK Banka'' Ltd. Nis and UniCredit Bank Serbia Ltd. Belgrade under the debt of public enterprise “Srbijagas” Novi Sad needs to be passed because OTP Bank had bought Vojvodjanska banka, from which 20 million USD were drawn in 2014, but most had been repaid.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Amendments and Modifications to the Convention on Temporary Importation, Bill on the Confirmation of the Financial Agreement Nis-Dimitrovgrad Railway between the Republic of Serbia and the European Investment Bank is Republic of Serbia’s direct obligation worth 134 million EUR, 73 million of which is secured from the Western Balkans Fund, and 61 million from the budget. The fixed and variable interest rate is 1.6%, with a 5-year grace period and 25-year maturity period.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Guarantee Agreement (Project Technical-Passenger Station Zemun – Phase 1) between the Republic of Serbia and the European Bank for Rehabilitation and Development concerns 14 million EUR for the relocation of railway infrastructure. The interest is a six-month Euribor rate, plus 1% fixed margin, 15-year maturity period and a 3.5 year grace period.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Loan Agreement between KfW, Frankfurt am Main and the Republic of Serbia – Program of Promotion of Renewable Energies: Developing the Biomass Market in the Republic of Serbia (first component) concerns a 20 million EUR loan for several local self-governments in Serbia which are to start using biomass for heating. The interest rate is fixed – 1.1%, the maturity period is 2021, and payment period 2032.

The Bill on the Planning System of the Republic of Serbia connects the planning and budget policy and introduces a single information system which helps planning and monitoring.

Following a debate the Committee members accepted, in principle, the Bill on the Planning System of the Republic of Serbia, Bill amending and modifying the Law on Foreign Currency Transactions, Bill amending the Law on Accounting, Bill amending the Law on Auditing, Bill amending and modifying the Law on Factoring, Bill amending and modifying the Law on Games of Chance, Bill amending and modifying the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration, Bill amending and modifying the Value Added Tax Law, and the Bill amending and modifying the Excise Tax Law.

The Committee members also accepted, in principle, the Bill Granting Guarantee by the Republic of Serbia in favour of German Development Bank KfW, Frankfurt-am-Main, to settle the debt of Electric Power Industry of Serbia Public Enterprise, Belgrade (Renewable Energy Project Wind Park Kostolac), Bill amending the Law Granting Guarantee by the Republic of Serbia in favour of OTP Bank Serbia Ltd. Novi Sad, Banca Intesa Ltd. Belgrade, NBG Bank Malta LTD, ''AIK Banka'' Ltd. Nis and UniCredit Bank Serbia Ltd. Belgrade under the debt of public enterprise “Srbijagas” Novi Sad, Bill on the Confirmation of the Amendments and Modifications to the Convention on Temporary Importation, Bill on the Confirmation of the Financial Agreement Nis-Dimitrovgrad Railway between the Republic of Serbia and the European Investment Bank, Bill on the Confirmation of the Guarantee Agreement (Project Technical-Passenger Station Zemun – Phase 1) between the Republic of Serbia and the European Bank for Rehabilitation and Development, Bill on the Confirmation of the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, and the Bill on the Confirmation of the Loan Agreement between KfW, Frankfurt am Main and the Republic of Serbia – Program of Promotion of Renewable Energies: Developing the Biomass Market in the Republic of Serbia (first component), submitted by the Government.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Deputy Chairman Milan Lapcevic and was attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Srbislav Filipovic, Olivera Pesic, Djordje Milicevic, Goran Kovacevic, Zoltan Pek, Zoran Bojanic, Momo Colakovic, Sonja Vlahovic, Ivan Manojlovic and Goran Ciric.


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thursday, 28 march
  • 9.00 - consultations of representatives of the parliamentary groups about the election of deputy chairpersons of the National Assembly working bodies (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 1)

  • 10.00 - visit of the students of Stevan Dukic Elementary School to the National Assembly House (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square)

  • 11.00 - visit of the students of Drinka Pavlovic Elementary School Student Parliament to the National Assembly House (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square)

  • 11.00 - press conference of the Green-Left Front – Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)оwn Parliamentary Group (National Assembly House 13, Nikola Pasic Square. Central Hall)

  • 13.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

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