Minister of Finance Siniša Mali does not accept the role of the main contender for prime minister, ascribed to him by the media ahead of forming the new government. In his interview with Kurir, he says that he is not one to vie for political positions, but chase results instead, adding that he will be at his country's disposal, providing help no matter what duty he is assigned. Speaking of the efforts to cope with the current crisis, the Minister guarantees that the government will not shift the burden to the citizens and the businesses.
Now, with the elections officially over after the announcement of the final results, do you expect the government to be formed quickly? What ruling majority will the Progressive Party build?
"First up, we have the forming of the new Parliament of the Republic of Serbia, and then we will know who the Prime Minister-designate will be, who the President of the Republic will entrust with the forming of the new Government of Serbia. Now that we have the final results of the elections, I believe that things will move fast. What is certain is that the Serbian Progressive Party will be the foundation of the new ruling majority, because the largest majority of the citizens of Serbia by far have placed their trust in us. As for our coalition partners, we will be deciding on that in party committee meetings once we've had conversations with potential partners in the upcoming period."
How does it make you feel when you get mentioned in the media as one of the main contenders for the position of the prime minister of the new government?
"If you take a look at my career, it's clear that I'm not the sort of person who's ever had any political ambitions. Until the Progressives, I had never been a member of a political party, never had the ambition to be a minister, let alone the prime minister. I chase results, I don't vie for political positions. The fact that I graduated from the Faculty of Economics means that I have always had ambitions to be successful solely in the world of business, which is was I'd succeeded in doing. I entered politics as an accomplished person, and pretty late – at age 40 – owing only to President Aleksandar Vučić. He had the vision of a better and more successful Serbia, which he selflessly shared with me. It was then that I felt the need to help our country with my knowledge and experience. And that's how I ended up here. The President will propose the Prime Minister-designate, and I am sure that he is best-placed to know who to entrust with that. I'm at my country's disposal and ready to contribute to its further progress and development. Which political position I do it in doesn't matter in the least."
What would you consider as the greatest successes of the Ministry of Finance with you at the helm?
"I think that the biggest success of the Ministry of Finance is that we've managed to save the economic stability, despite many challenges that we have been facing in the past two and half years. First we had the pandemic, now we have the global economic crisis brought about by the situation in Ukraine. Despite these challenges, Serbia has remained strong and economically stable and, as a result, during the two years of the pandemic, we were the fastest-growing economy in Europe. The economic growth continues this year as well, given that we had a 4.4 percent growth in Q1, and that we expect a four percent growth of the GDP in Q2. That indicates that we are far from recession, unlike other economies, even stronger ones. Our sovereign debt stands at app. 52 percent, and unemployment at 10.6 percent, which is less than before the pandemic, when it was 11.2 percent. As one of the greatest results, I'd like to mention the fact that during the pandemic we provided aid to the businesses and the citizens in the amount of 8.8 billion euros, maintained the standard of living, saved jobs, and kept factories open. What I'm especially proud of is the fact that, despite the crisis and the pandemic, we haven't given up on the projects that we started; rather, we have passed systemic laws and implemented structural reforms which considerably change Serbia's economic environment and facilitate conducting business. Here I primarily have in mind the new E-billing and E-fiscalization systems, which will bring many benefits to the economy as much as the government and the citizens, helping above all the fight against the grey economy."
Are you entirely happy with Serbia's efforts to mitigate the global crisis? What could have been done better?
"The current economic crisis is huge and is yet to be felt in the coming winter, but we're doing whatever we can for the citizens and the economy to suffer the effects of the crisis as little as possible. Owing to a responsible and conscientious management of the economy in the previous years, we were ready to take on this crisis, as well as the one caused by the pandemic, and responded in time to mitigate its effect. The Government put a cap on the prices of some basic foodstuffs, such as sugar, flour, edible oil, pork loin, and long-life milk, in order to protect the market and the citizens and make sure that they wouldn't have to shoulder the burden of the crisis. Also, the Decree on Limiting the Price of the "Sava" Bread has been extended. As the need arose, the state intervened by increasing the supply of basic foodstuffs from the commodity reserve, which was stocked up in time. Furthermore, the export of basic agricultural products important for the population was temporarily restricted, which was followed by approving the monthly export quotas. Farmer subsidies were increased from 4,000 to 8,000 dinars per hectare. As regards energy sources, we have again made the decision to temporarily reduce the petroleum products excise tax by 20 percent. In addition, the price of fuel at service stations has also been restricted. The price of electricity for households remains unchanged. I believe that we have responded promptly and appropriately, even though we are faced with numerous challenges and tough decisions, and that we should be happy with the way we have been coping with the crisis thus far. Having said that, we must be aware of the fact that the most difficult times lie ahead. What I can say with certainty is that we will give our absolute best to cope with the situation and make sure the citizens and businesses don't shoulder the burden of the crisis."
The coming winter is full of uncertainties for the entire world. What progress is Serbia making to bring it back into the realm of certainty? What preparations have we made and what else must we do?
"It's no secret or any sort of news that we are in for a very difficult winter. We're not alone in this – the entire world is living in uncertainty and anxiety, with hundreds of open questions. The advantage that we have is that we have enough food and that the commodity reserve is full – with enough crops, flour, oil, and sugar to be able to help the region as well. A slightly more difficult question is the issue of energy, given that there's a global energy war raging. The most important thing is to secure enough energy sources for the coming winter. We have agreed storing 500 million cubic metres of gas in Hungary's storage facilities to ensure uninterrupted supply. Moreover, we have our Banatski Dvor storage facility. What's really important is that the President has managed to agree a gas arrangement with the President of Russia for the next three years. Then there's the question of coal – it's difficult to provide the means of coal transport and, as the President has pointed out, conversations are under way with the Chinese regarding additional barges which would bring coal to the port of Konstanz. We also need to obtain sufficient quantities of diesel and gasoline, for the citizens' needs. As you can see, there are open questions, but we are fighting and working around the clock."
How do you comment on the messages of the officials of the German government, who recommend to their citizens various measures to save energy, including taking short showers? Is Vučić right when he says that he would be crucified by our citizens if he were to give them that sort of advice?
"The situation is truly complex, and different governments are trying to mitigate the effects of the crisis in different ways, so various energy-saving measures are proposed as a result. I wouldn't characterize the messages of the German officials as good or bad, but the fact is – if President Vučić suggested something along these lines, he would be brutally attacked and criticized primarily by the political opposition, which didn't do absolutely anything during its time in power other than bring the country to bankruptcy."
There is great interest among the citizens in the RSD 15,000 tourist vouchers. Will you be able to earmark the additional 100,000 from the funds in the budget, as President Vučić hinted at as a possibility?
"At the moment, 300,000 vouchers have been set aside for vacations in Serbia, of which 200,000 vouchers are worth 15,000 dinars and 100,000 vouchers are worth 10,000 dinars – for those who have already used their right to a 5,000-dinar voucher this year. I think this is really a terrific drive that benefits not only the citizens, whose vacation expenses are reduced by the state, but also the economy. Just imagine a couple of retirees applying for tourist vouchers. They will get 30,000 dinars to spend their vacation in Serbia. This measure also helps the students, the unemployed, the employed whose income is below 70,000 dinars, etc. So, this drive shows once again that the government is there for its citizens, that it takes care of them, and that it is ready and willing to help them in different ways. That is the task of the government – to be there for its people – and this is why, should the need arise, we will find the funds in the budget for an additional 100,000 vouchers."
What economic effects do you expect from this measure?
"Distributing free-of-charge tourist vouchers can be seen from two different points of view. On the one hand, we help the citizens and keep their standard of living by financially supporting them to go on vacation and spend it in their own country. At the same time, we help and strengthen our economy because, when we vacation in our country, the tourism business increases, the hospitality and service sectors grow, and all this contributes to an overall economic growth. This drive gives the citizens the opportunity to get to know our beautiful Serbia, with its magnificent landscapes, rich history, and culture. There will be more visitors on mountains, in ethno-villages, at lakes, in spas, as well as museums, fortresses, and archaeological sites. Therefore, our citizens will come to love Serbia even more, the money will stay in the country, and our economy will become stronger, especially the tourism sector."
Ivana Kljajić/ Foto/Source:printscreen RTS