EIB to open regional office for Western Balkans in Serbia

- European Investment Bank (EIB) is going to open regional office for Western Balkans in Belgrade and approve 250m EUR worth of loans to small and mid-sized enterprises in Serbia – the Government of Serbia announced today (May 11th, 2009).

The Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, Božidar Đelić, and the Vice President of European Investment Bank, Dario Scannapieco, have signed the Agreement on founding and activities of regional office of EIB in Serbia, which anticipates that the office will be opened as soon as Serbia becomes the candidate for membership in European Union (EU).

Đelić said at the press conference that “today is an important day for European integrations of Serbia” and that he expected that Serbia would submit the request for candidacy in 2009.

He added that he hoped that the report of the Head Prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal, Serž Bramerc, who was in two-day visit to Belgrade, would be positive because the condition for submission of request for candidacy for membership in EU was the application of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, but not before the EU Council estimated Serbia’s cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.