Under article 204 and article 206 paragraph 2 of the Rules of Procedure, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, set Thursday, 29 October 2009, starting at 10 a.m., as Day to respond to deputies’ questions regarding the current issue: “The Government’s attitude towards constitutional obligations”, proposed by Democratic Party of Serbia – Vojislav Kostunica Deputy Group.

The deputies’ questions were answered by: the Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Mirko Cvetkovic, Minister of Justice Snezana Malovic, Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Milan Markovic, Minister of Diaspora Srdjan Sreckovic, Minister of Human and Minority Rights Svetozar Ciplic and Minister of Energy and Mining Petar Skundric.

The questions were asked by the following deputies: Slobodan Samardzic, Vladan Batic, Velimir Ilic, Nebojsa Randjelovic, Tomislav Nikolic, Aleksandar Martinovic, Gorica Mojovic, Miroslav Markicevic, Slobodan Maras, Dejan Mirovic, Vladan Jeremic, Jorgovanka Tabakovic, Zoran Krasic and Aleksandar Cotric.

Deputy Slobodan Samardzic deemed that the adoption of the Law on establishing the jurisdiction of AP Vojvodina is long overdue, and that before the Vojvodina Statute was adopted by the Vojvodina Assembly, the Law on establishing the jurisdiction should have been adopted, as well as the Law on financing AP Vojvodina and the Law on property of territorial autonomy and local self-government units and inquired about further activities in this regulative sphere.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Miroslav Cvetkovic, stressed that the Government has a very clear approach towards its constitutional duties and is discharging them in full.

Independent deputy Vladan Batic asked the Prime Minister and present Ministers three questions. Will the Government do something to re-examine the Privatisation Agency’s operation? What are the conditions under which the Republic of Serbia shall receive the loan from the Russian Federation? Is the Southern Flow gas pipeline going to be built?

Prime Minister Cvetkovic reminded the deputies that there are competent bodies in charge of monitoring the Privatisation Agency’s activities, the budgetary inspection first of all, which shall surely carry out the control. He explained that the Government’s cabinet had done a special analysis of the privatisation process and that the Government was preparing special measures, in cooperation with legal experts, to determine whether the buyer i.e. owner uses the assets unconscionably. Answering the second question, Cvetkovic informed the deputies that the conditions of the loan from the Russian Federation are as yet unknown because negotiations are still underway and stressed that Serbia shall not accept the loan under conditions less favourable than ones that could be obtained form parallel sources, but added that there are two kinds of loan. Answering the third question, Minister of Energy and Mining Petar Skundric, expressed his belief that there are solid guarantees that the Southern Flow gas pipeline shall be realised according to the planned dynamics. He added that feasibility studies are completed for the most part, and that the legal framework between the countries taking part in the realisation of the project is finished. Skundric stressed that the price of gas shall remain unchanged until the New Year, and that there is a possibility of a drop in the price of gas next year, for all users in Serbia.

Head of the New Serbia Deputy Group Velimir Ilic asked the Prime Minister how would next year’s budget be filled considering the economic difficulties, then he was interested in the realisation of the contract with FIAT and whether it was true that Serbia agreed to Kosovo joining the IMF in exchange for three billion EUR.

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic stressed that Serbia is not an excessively indebted country. The public debt has not risen in real terms, the loans shall be used for infrastructure which then remains as lasting property, and the loans are expected to be serviced from real sources.

Deputy Nebojsa Randjelovic asked: how much of the reorganisation of the judiciary and election of the full composition of the High Judicial Council has been completed?

Minister of Justice Snezana Malovic explained that the work on establishing a network of courts is very intensive in order to meet the stipulated conditions by 1 January.

Having first criticised the Government, the Head of the Forward Serbia Deputy Group Tomislav Nikolic asked who had been issued with building permits for hydroelectric power plants and how many of them have been issued so far.

Minister of Energy Petar Skundric reminded the deputy that no new energy permits had been issued during his term of office, while the previously issued permits which had expired have not been extended because they had not been used to accomplish what they had been issued for.

Deputy Head of the Serbian Radical Party Deputy Group Aleksandar Martinovic asked: what measures shall the Serbian Government implement regarding the fact that the Proposed AP Vojvodina Statute contains a list of provisions in direct contradiction with the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia?

Mirko Cvetkovic, Snezana Malovic and Svetozar Ciplic reminded the deputy of the activities employed to implement the constitutional provisions, at the same time stating that the abovementioned Proposal does not contain provisions contrary to the Constitution.

Deputy Gorica Mojovic asked a question regarding the adoption of the Law on Public Property and whether some of the ministries were engaged in preparatory activities for the adoption of that Law, and Mirko Cvetkovic and Snezana Malovic responded that considering the complexity of the subject matter the Law was expected to enter Assembly procedure next year.

Deputy Slobodan Samardzic reminded all present that on 11 September the Serbian Government signed an agreement with EULEX on border management between Serbia and Kosovo. Samardzic asked whether the Government was taking care of Serbia’s borders since, by taking part in agreements with the Government of Kosovo, the Serbian Government accepts and sanctions the secession of its territory.

Prime Minister Cvetkovic reiterated that the Government is very mindful of Serbia’s borders and considers the line with Kosovo an “administrative line”, adding that all the documents had been signed in that context, stressing that the line was never referred to as “border”. Cvetkovic repeated that the Government shall not make a single move towards recognising the independence of Kosovo, directly or indirectly.

Deputy Head of the New Serbia Deputy Group Miroslav Markicevic asked the Prime Minister if he was aware that the Director of the Government’s EU Integration Office owned 25% of a company doing business with public companies.

Prime Minister Cvetkovic pointed out to deputy Markicevic that he had asked an unclear question, and if he believed this to be a conflict of interest he should approach the appropriate institutions and competent authorities.

Deputy Slobodan Maras asked several questions considering the sale of NIS and specific financial transactions regarding the company, and Prime Minister Cvetkovic stated that before NIS was sold, the Parliament had ratified the Cooperation Agreement between Serbia and the Russian Federation which was the basis for the realisation of certain stages of the transaction.

Deputy Dejan Mirovic asked the Prime Minister whether the possibility of additional taxation for foreign banks and monopolists on the domestic market such as “Delta” company, had been considered during the negotiations with the IMF.

Prime Minister Cvetkovic repeated that the negotiations with the IMF are underway and that they comprise three segments. The first segment is the 2009 budget, the second is the 2010 budget and the third is a feasible fiscal policy in the middle-term period. The positions on the 2009 budget were reconciled two months ago. The negotiations on the 2010 budget are being reconciled right now and he expressed hope that they shall be reconciled by the end of the day, while negotiations on the feasible policy for the middle-term period shall start at the beginning of next week.

Deputy Vladan Jeremic had a question about the use of budgetary funds of the City of Belgrade, illustrating it with a specific example and received the answer that the question was not directed the appropriate authority.

Deputy Jorgovanka Tabakovic asked whether the Government intends to or has already implemented the activities necessary for the application of article 137 of the Constitution which would harmonise the Law on Public Agencies with the Constitution, specifically the possibility of entrusting the appropriate bodies with public competencies.

Minister Milan Markovic stressed that the Law adheres to the Constitution and suggested that the deputy be sent a specific answer in writing by a specific authority.

Deputy Aleksandar Martinovic warned that the Assembly of Vojvodina could make no more legal-technical revisions of the text of the Proposal of the Vojvodina Statute and asked whether the Serbian Government intended to just sit and watch what was happening on the territory of AP Vojvodina or react?

Minister Malovic stressed that legal-technical amendments are possible until the moment a Bill is placed on the Assembly’s agenda. Aleksandar Martinovic also wanted to know what the Serbian Government intended to do regarding the fact that AP Vojvodina authorities have already started to implement the Proposal of Vojvodina Statute even though it had not undergone an adoption procedure, which he illustrated by a specific example - the creation of an institution envisaged by the Proposal.

Deputy Aleksandar Cotric asked the Government when it would commence the implementation of the Law on the Rights of Ex-servicemen, Disabled Ex-servicemen and their Families, adopted by the Assembly on 24 December 2004.

Deputy Zoran Krasic asked the Government whether it intended a budget rebalance before the end of 2009, and whether it was planning to adopt next year’s budget by the end of the year.

Minister Malovic said that the Ministry of Finance had written to all the ministries requesting a budget projection for the field within their purview, and stressed that the Ministry of Justice has already submitted its projection.