At the sitting held on 11 February, the Finance Committee discussed the Bill Regulating the Relationship between the Republic of Serbia and borrower or guarantor for liabilities undertaken under loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Bill on the Confirmation of the Financial Cooperation Programme between the Republic of Serbia and the Government of Spain with Annex, the Bill on the Confirmation of the Protocol between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Greece modifying the Contract between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Greece on avoidance of double taxation regarding income and property tax, the Bill on the Confirmation of the Contract between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on avoidance of double taxation regarding income and property tax and the Bill amending and modifying the Expropriation Law. The Committee members also discussed the 2007 Annual Activity report of the Commission for Protection of Rights.

The sitting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Treasury Administration and the Commission for Protection of Rights who elaborated the bills for the Committee members.

The Bill Regulating the Relationship between the Republic of Serbia and borrower or guarantor for liabilities undertaken under loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development regulates the payment of these loans which the Republic of Serbia had taken over from domestic banks.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Financial Cooperation Programme between the Republic of Serbia and the Government of Spain with Annex secures 45 million euros worth of means for the procurement of goods and services from Spain. The interest rate for individual contracts to be signed will amount to 1.5%.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Protocol between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Greece modifying the Contract between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Greece on avoidance of double taxation regarding income and property tax envisages only the ratification of the bilateral Protocol by Serbia, considering that the basic contract had been signed in 1997 between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Greece. The Greek side had not yet ratified the Contract due to objections to article 8 dealing with income realised in maritime traffic. The new conditions in 2006 made re-negotiation possible, after which this article was modified and the Protocol was signed.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Contract between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on avoidance of double taxation regarding income and property tax is of bilateral character and deals with the avoidance of double taxation of Serbian citizens who realise income in Lithuania. It was signed in 2007 and Lithuania has ratified it.

The Bill amending and modifying the Expropriation Law is a modification of the valid 1996 Law. The Bill stems from the need to harmonise the provisions of the Law in force with the positive regulations and current situation. The changes are reflected in the modification of the number of users of expropriation, modification of the reimbursements for expropriated real estate and amendment of provisions on determining general interest.

The 2007 Annual Activity report of the Commission for Protection of Rights includes, in addition to information on the 2007 activities, information on the Commission itself and its mode of operation. In 2007 the Commission received 536 requests for protection of rights in public procurement proceedings, 50% of which had been resolved. The report states that the most common irregularities in public procurement proceedings are favourisation of certain offerors as well as procedural errors.

The Committee members completed the discussion on all the items on the agenda and will vote on them in one of the upcoming sittings.

The sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairman, Zoran Krasic.