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Post by radovic on Jun 9, 2009 12:02:38 GMT -5
Serbian companies planning to build projects in Belarus worth 6bn euros May 26, 2009 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) -- [Report by Nikola Mikovic: "Serbia To Invest 6 Billion Euros in Belarus"]
Minsk - Serbian companies are planning to begin building large trade centres in Belarus next year. These are long-term projects entailing an investment of about 6bn euros.
Besides, companies from Serbia are also interested in growing oil rape in Belarus for the production of biodiesel. Undertakings of this kind, according to both Serbian and Belarus businessmen, will be of great benefit to the economies of both countries.
This is only one of the reasons why a Serbian National Economy Exposition will be opening in Minsk today. More than 70 companies, including such Serbian brands as Metalac of Gornji Milanovac, Carnex of Vrbas, Krusevac's Rubin, the PIK Becej industrial farm, Jagodina's Fabrika Kablova cable factory, Simpo, and so on are expected to take part.
On the 5,000 square meters of the Expocentre, they will be making a presentation of their companies and of the most important products that they mean to offer to the Belarus market. This event is expected to provide an opportunity for signing business deals, the most important of which might well be those for building trade centres in towns across Belarus.
"Despite the economic crisis, our companies will try to obtain building permits already this year so that work could begin already in 2010," Serbian Ambassador in Minsk Srecko Djukic said.
He went on to say that the recent inclusion of Belarus in the Eastern Partnership programme with the European Union will open the door for Belarus firms to access the EU market by way of Serbia.
Some signals are already being sent. Thus, it could have been heard over the past few days that the building is to begin in Belgrade soon of a 12,000-square-meter Belarus shopping centre. These announcements follow upon a recently signed free trade agreement between the two countries, so that trade, which at present amounts to a modest 60m dollars a year, is expected to be increased as a result.
"The agreement that we have signed with Belarus and the presentation of our economy here in Minsk open scope for increasing the volume of trade. It could reach as much as 200m dollars in value in the coming period," according to Milos Bugarin, president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce [PKS], who adds that at present, Serbia has a deficit in trade with Belarus of about 25m dollars. He stresses also that the presentation of Serbian companies in Minsk can contribute to a strengthening of cooperation not just in the construction industry, but in the chemical and textile industries as well, adding that this necessitates a prior banking linkage between the two countries.
"Because of the global economic crisis, trade between Serbia and Belarus has dropped by 31 per cent, so that the purpose of this exposition is to cushion the negative trends and increase Serbian export," Bugarin says.
The Serbian Chamber of Commerce still does not have a representation in Belarus, but expects to open one next year, because many Serbian companies are already doing business in that country. The fact that more than 100 of our companies (the display area has room for only 74) applied to the PKS for participation in the Serbian National Economy Exhibition in Minsk best illustrates interest in doing business with that country, where many companies are still state-owned.
Despite this, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has recently invited Serbian businessmen to invest in Belarus, local media point out.
"We are not inviting governments, but businessmen to come here and make money. If they do so and start production, they will strengthen the economies of both countries," Lukashenko said.
This view is shared by Belarus Minister of Trade Valentin Sergeyevich Chekanov, who said after meeting with his Serbian counterpart Slobodan Milosavljevic yesterday that the event that opens today would be a chance for establishing closer economic ties.
"Over the next few days, Serbian businessmen will have an opportunity to sign contracts with their Belarus partners and this will give a new impulse to the two countries' economic cooperation," Chekanov said.
Source: Politika website, Belgrade, in Serbian 26 May 09
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Kralj Vatra
Amicus
Warning: Sometimes uses foul language & insults!!!
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Post by Kralj Vatra on Jun 9, 2009 12:34:33 GMT -5
Good, pretty good!
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Post by Novus Dis on Jun 9, 2009 16:49:11 GMT -5
Besides, companies from Serbia are also interested in growing oil rape in Belarus for the production of biodiesel. What?
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Kralj Vatra
Amicus
Warning: Sometimes uses foul language & insults!!!
20%
Posts: 9,814
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Post by Kralj Vatra on Jun 10, 2009 0:08:50 GMT -5
maybe they meant grape? LOL
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Post by radovic on Jun 10, 2009 0:44:25 GMT -5
Details in Serbian.
“Astra invest“ gradi u Belorusiji 15:01 | Izvor: Tanjug Minsk -- Srpska kompanija "Astra invest", koja posluje u okviru "BK Grupe", æe graditi poslovno-stambeni centra Vivaldi u Minsku, u vrednosti od 107 miliona dolara.
Prema ugovoru sa beloruskom kompanijom "Belinte-Roba" poslovno-stambeni centar æe imati površinu 76 hiljada kvadratnih metara. Savetnik "BK Grupe" za privrednu saradnju sa inostranstvom Dragomir Kariæ rekao je da je objekat projektovala grupa arhitekata iz Beograda i napomenuo da je veæ prodato oko 70 stanova, pre nego što je objekat i poèeo da se gradi.
Cene stanova biæe oko 1.500 dolara po kvadratnom metru, izgradnja košta oko 900 dolara, a trenutna komercijalna cena stanova u Minsku je oko 2.500 dolara po kvadratu, naveo je Kariæ.
Dragomir Kariæ je najavio da æe na jesen u Minsku poèeti gradnja trgovaèko-poslovno-stambenog objekta "Svetionik Minska", vrednosti od oko tri milijarde evra, ukupne površine oko 956 hiljada kvadratnih metara, plus oko 300 hiljada kvadratnih metara garaža.
"Svetionik Minska" trebalo bi da bude završen za pet godina i tu æe živeti oko 27 hiljada ljudi, naveo je Kariæ i napomenuo da je zemljište od oko 44 hektara dobijeno besplatno od Grada Minska, a kompanije su osloboðene plaæanja poreza u prvih pet godina rada po beloruskim zakonima.
Na gradilištima u Minsku æe proæi oko 15 hiljada graðevinskih radnika i drugih struènjaka iz Srbije u narednih pet godina, najavio je Kariæ i pozvao srpske graðevinare da dodju u Minsk da posluju.
Ministar trgovine i usluga Slobodan Milosavljeviæ kaže da je ugovor veoma znaèajan za srpsko graðevinarstvo, jer æe u njegovo projektovanje i gradnju biti ukljuèene uglavnom kompanije iz Srbije.
Predsednik Privredne komore Srbije (PKS) Miloš Bugarin je rekao da je "ugovor koji je potpisan sigurno nešto što æe u 2009. godini popraviti bilans robne razmene Srbije i Belorusije, jer ako znamo da je 60 miliona dolara bio ukupan obim spoljnotrgovinske razmene u 2008. godini, ovo je sigurno dobar poèetak".
Ulažu i Miškoviæ, Cepter i Kostiæ
Nedaleko od Kariæevog gradilišta kompanija Delta bi trebalo da sagradi još jedan stambeno-poslovni kompleks, a u njegovoj blizini biæe podignut i hotel Hilton. Osim kompanije Miroslava Miškoviæa, za ulaganje u Belorusiji je zainteresovan i Filip Cepter koji je, kako se saznaje, takoðe zakupio zemljište u tom delu grada.
Miškoviæ, inaèe, veæ posluje u Belorusiji, gde poseduje èak 11 trgovina, od kojih je jedna u Minsku. Na prilièno zatvoreno tržište ušao je preko jedne ruske firme, èime je praktièno zaokružio imperiju u ovom delu Evrope. Osim Delte, Ceptera i „BK grupe”, za ulaganje u Belorusiju zainteresovana je i „MK grupa” Miodraga Kostiæa.
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Post by radovic on Jun 10, 2009 17:36:48 GMT -5
Another article:
Serbian firms' building plans in Belarus worth "several billion euros" May 27, 2009 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) --
[Report by Politika's special correspondent Nikola Mikovic: "Miskovic, Zepter Building in Belarus"]
Minsk -- Serbia's biggest companies, such as Delta, Zepter, and BK Group, have bought land close to the centre of Minsk, where they will build housing-cum-business premises. These projects are worth several billion euros. Over the next five years, the Belarus capital should be getting a new Delta City and Minsk's Eastern Beacon housing estate for 27,000 people.
According to Politika's information, these companies are already present on the Belarus market and the Serbian National Exposition, which was formally opened in Minsk yesterday, was an opportunity for them to establish additional business contacts with local partners.
"The city authorities have given us land free of charge and the government has exempted us from all taxes," Dragomir Karic, deputy president of BK Group and representative of the Belarus Chamber of Trade and Industry, tells Politika. "The perimeter fence has already been put around the site where we are going to build, the designs are ready, licenses obtained, so that everything is in readiness for beginning work on the project worth 3 billion euros, which will take five years to complete."
Not far from Karic's building site, the Delta Company should be building another residential-cum-office complex, next to which should be built a Hilton Hotel. A large area adjacent to it is earmarked for Ikea. Apart from Miroslav Miskovic's company, interest in investing in Belarus has been evinced also by Philip Zepter who, according to reports, has also taken a lease on land in that part of the city.
Miskovic is already doing business in Belarus, where he owns as many as 11 stores, one of them in Minsk. He got a foot in the door of the rather closed market through a Russian firm, thereby practically rounding off his empire in this part of Europe.
The fact that Serbian companies intend to invest huge sums of money in Belarus has been confirmed also by Belarus Minister of Trade Valentin Sergeyevich Chekanov, who told our newspaper that the construction work would be done by Belarus builders, which would additionally reduce unemployment in that country (which at present stands at about 2 per cent). Asked how the Belarus Government has managed to employ such a large percentage of able-bodied population, Chekanov replied:
"We need more workers. There is no secret here. Simply, Belarus is an export-oriented country and we are open to foreign investors, so that the announced Serbian investment will be an opportunity to employ more people."
Apart from Delta, Zepter, and BK Group, Miodrag Kostic's MK Group is also interested in investing in Belarus. Kostic is due to arrive in Minsk today to join the rest of the Serbian business delegation, which successfully presented their potential to their Belarus colleagues yesterday.
"Despite the crisis, the world's biggest companies are vying with each other for the Belarus market and in these circumstances, Serbia certainly can offer products that can be competitive and find buyers," Slobodan Milosavljevic, Serbian minister of trade and services, said, opening the event yesterday.
He said that, with the signing of the free trade agreement between the two countries, the most favourable conditions have been created for increasing overall trade.
His Belarus colleague stressed, in turn, that there are prospects for setting up joint ventures for doing business on third markets.
"Before this, the people of Belarus will have a chance to see some of the Serbian products that could be of interest to our market and you will certainly have a chance to reduce your deficit in trade with us," Minister Chekanov told the Serbian businessmen.
The deficit amounts to about 25 million euros, while overall trade between the two countries is at present worth barely $65 million. According to Milos Bugarin, president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, this is below the potential. He stressed that there is potential for increasing mutual trade to 100 million euros over the next year.
According to those who know the local situation well, the free trade agreement has thrown the door wide open for our producers to market their goods in that country, since Belarus does not even have such an agreement with Russia. Belarus has quotas in trade with the Russian Federation; two days ago, President Alexander Lukashenko complained that Belarus companies cannot market their products in Russia.
"Russia blocks everything that we agree about and everything that we sign at the highest level. If they continue to do so and if they mean to continue to keep us out of their market in future as well, then any integration into the Union of Russia and Belarus is in vain," Lukashenko said ahead of tomorrow's visit by Vladimir Putin to Minsk.
Source: Politika website, Belgrade, in Serbian 27 May 09
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Post by radovic on Jun 10, 2009 17:43:32 GMT -5
News agency examines announcements of Serbian-Belarus business deals Jun 01, 2009 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) --
[BETA analysis: "After the Russians - Belarus"]
The European Union's reservations about integrating Serbia in the economic sense, accompanied by the pressures of the economic crisis, have made Belgrade turn towards more accessible markets, and so Belarus is all the rage now, whence last week there came pompous announcements of Serbian investments.
The leading Serbian private companies, which, just a month ago, managed to wheedle a postponement of several billion euros in due debts from Western banks, in Minsk liberally promised to invest as much as EUR6bn.
Such messages, conveyed by the prestigious Belgrade daily Politika, arrived from the three-day National Exhibition of Serbia, held in Minsk under the symptomatic title "Preserving Friendship-Building the Future". Still, regardless of the demonstrated absence of realism, the said gathering certainly promises a certain progress in bilateral business. If this indeed occurs, it could help Serbia somewhat in alleviating the difficult economic problems it has been struggling with over the past few months, which is best proven by data on the decline in industrial production in the first four months by as much as 17.8 per cent.
Commenting on the closing of the free trade agreement with Belarus, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy Mladjan Dinkic explained that the Serbian side's strategy is not to invest in Belarus, but the reverse.
"We are attempting for Serbia to become an attractive place for production investments, oriented towards exporting to third countries. Since we do not know when the EU will be ready for the enlargement process, we would like to use the period until our admission into the EU for attracting as many investments as possible," Dinkic said.
However, the only thing that fits in with Dinkic's plans is the announcement from Minsk by several Belarus companies of their interest in building a shopping mall in Belgrade, with an area of about 12,000 square meters. Also mentioned was the possible building of a tractor factory.
The free trade agreement between Serbia and Belarus was signed at the end of March, and it was agreed at the start of this month, when Belarus President Alexander Lukasenko, with his sons, their families and an entourage of about 150 people, stayed at the prestigious Serbian ski resort on Mount Kopaonik. At the same time, a Serbian ,,Business Forum" was held there, with the attendance of top state officials. Lukasenko had informal meetings with Serbian officials, and this was obviously enough for the negotiations on the free trade agreement to be completed.
According to some media, during his stay on Mount Kopaonik, Lukasenko "went to a night club, where a big party was organized and where toasts were made to Serbia, Russia and Slobodan Milosevic". Belarus came onto the Serbian trade agenda after Russia, with which Serbia already has a free trade agreement.
Also under way are talks on customs-free trade with Ukraine, with which Serbia's goods exchange last year was worth about USD860m. Negotiations on a free trade agreement are also under way with Iran, and there is serious work on strengthening economic ties with Cuba. Besides the obvious benefits, the agreement with Belarus, according to analysts, will enable companies from this country to enter, through Serbia, the EU market after the recent admission of Belarus into the programme "Eastern Partnership" with the EU. With Russia, Belarus has export quotas which seem to serve the Russians in preventing Belarus companies from placing their products on the Russian market, so the agreement with Belgrade might serve as a solution to this problem through Serbia.
According to well-informed circles, the agreement between Serbia and Belarus is even more favourable than the one signed with Russia, because fewer goods, such as sugar, alcohol, cigarettes, used automobiles, tractors and tires , are excluded from the customs regime. It is thus understandable why 62 Serbian companies rushed to make their presentations in Minsk. Despite all the ambition that has been displayed, the trade so far between Serbia and Belarus has been modest.
Last year's trade added up to a mere EUR65m, of which imports into Serbia accounted for EUR40m. Exports from Serbia consisted mostly of paints and coatings, rubber pipes and hoses, paper and cardboard, while the most imported items were tractors, heating oil and synthetic fibres. A sober view of business possibilities would indicate that this year's trade between the two countries could add up to EUR100m, with the deficit on the Serbian side being reduced through exports of agricultural products and food.
According to same estimates, in 2010 trade could double, but this would still be a very modest result. The Belarus market is not unknown to Serbian businessmen, because the biggest Serbian tycoons are already doing business there, such as Miroslav Miskovic, a retail monopolist and owner of various enterprises in Serbia, and Bogoljub Karic, who is in hiding because of accusations of having stolen from the state, and for whom real estate became the favourite business since his mobile telephony operations were practically snatched away from him in Serbia. The Karic family was Lukasenko's host on Mount Kopaonik and, without a doubt, it was on this connection that the appointment of the brother of Bogoljub Karic, Dragomir, as chairman of the Mixed Serbian-Belarus Business Commission, was based. Karic's company Astra Invest, part of BK Group, closed a deal at the exhibition in Minsk for the building of the office and housing complex Vivaldi, worth EUR170m.
An adviser of BK Group for foreign business cooperation, Dragomir Karic, said the facility was designed by a group of architects from Belgrade and that about 70 flats have already been sold. The price of flats will be about USD1,500 per square meter, their building costs about USD900, while the current commercial price of flats in Minsk is about USD2,500 per square meter. He also announced that the building of a trade, business and housing complex, called Minsk Lighthouse, worth about EUR3bn, will start in Minsk in autumn. The 44 hectares of land for this building, as he said, was obtained free of charge, and companies will be tax exempt during the first five years of operation. About 15,000 construction workers and experts from Serbia are to be employed at construction sites in Minsk.
Although it has been admitted that there are "many unsold flats" in Minsk, announcements about major Serbian investments have been seasoned with the story of the Belarus real-estate market's miraculous immunity to the general crisis. Not far from Karic's construction site, Miskovic's Delta is supposed to build another business and housing complex. Miskovic has 11 retail outlets in Belarus, one of which is in Minsk, and he entered this market via a company from Russia.
Besides Miroslav Miskovic's company, also interested in investing in Belarus is Filip Zepter, owner of the Zepter International Company, who, according to unofficial information, has also leased land in this part of the city. There is also Miodrag Kostic, known in the media as ,,the Serbian sugar king," a man who is vigorously expanding his business empire in all directions, although agriculture remains his favourite field. All other business deals seem far smaller than those mentioned, but for this reason they appear to be more realistic. The company Termovent from Temerin signed two contracts in Minsk, worth about EUR730,000, with the largest oil company in Belarus, and announced the closing of another deal worth EUR400,000. The Nis company Resor signed a contract with MAZ from Belarus about superstructure add-ons for trucks and vehicles for transporting waste.
The leading Serbian furniture producer Simpo and the top cookery producer Metalac, for whose products the interest in Belarus was greatest, as well as the Carnex and Aleva food companies, are yet to negotiate about exporting onto this market after the certification of their products. The Belarus retail chains are prepared to sell Serbian goods in significant quantities, but these plans could be thwarted by announcements of Belarus that it would increase the value-added tax from 18 to 22 per cent because of the economic crisis.
Although the authorities in Minsk believe that this measure will not result in price increases, economists are claiming the opposite. There have been announcements that Serbian companies are interested in growing oil rape seeds in Belarus, as a source of biodiesel fuel. "Serbia certainly can offer products that can be competitive and find buyers on the Belarus market," said Serbian Minister for Trade and Services Slobodan Milosavljevic.
Source: Beta Week, Belgrade, in English 0000 gmt 1 Jun 09
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Post by vinjak on Jun 10, 2009 18:11:17 GMT -5
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Post by srbobran on Jun 10, 2009 20:13:28 GMT -5
They should be investing in Serbia, not other countries.
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Post by radovic on Jun 10, 2009 20:20:20 GMT -5
They should be investing in Serbia, not other countries. 100% of these deals are real estate. They've done a ton of these deals in Serbia. Search the Daniel Liebeskind project for the multi-billion project Miskovic and Cepter plan for the Belgrade project. If anything instead of making apartments in Belarus they should of done this in Serbia. Serbia lacks 150,000 apartments -- 100,000 in Beograd. This has been the case essentially unchanged since 2000. Now it's too late to do something about this and Mrkonjic form the socialist is making things worst by trying to get the government to build this capacity and hurting the Serbian budget to the tune of at least 3 billion euros.
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