MINISTER OF ECONOMY MESAROVIĆ FOR KURIR: ‘With the Serbian Panda, We Are Entering the Global Electric Vehicle Industry Race!

The Serbian government is approaching its first hundred days of work, and for Minister of Economy, Adrijana Mesarović, these are also her first hundred days in the ministerial position. In an interview with Kurir, she says that she leaves the evaluation of success for this short period to others but admits that her days are often too short for everything she intends to accomplish. The electric Panda from the Kragujevac plant of Fiat is, for Minister Mesarović, yet another example that the future is being written in Serbia, demonstrating that our country is rightly branding itself as a pioneer in innovation and technological development.

The Serbian government will soon complete its first hundred days of work, a time when the first assessments are typically made, evaluating progress towards goals and their feasibility. How do you evaluate your progress so far, and how have you managed in your first time as a minister?

“Our citizens, businesspeople, entrepreneurs, all those connected to the Ministry’s portfolio, and all those I’ve had the chance to meet and discuss possibilities for further improving the business environment, will be the best judges of our success. Often, a day is too short for everything I would like to accomplish with my team. We’ve initiated many processes, announced the highest number of public calls for financial support to businesses to date. Over the past three months, I’ve made it a priority to visit as many entrepreneurs and business owners as possible, to be on the ground with people, because our focus is on the economic position of citizens and improving the standard of living, which we can achieve only by strengthening the private sector that directly reflects the success of our country’s economy. We haven’t closed the office doors despite the high temperatures; on the contrary, we’re out in the field every day. We’re actively promoting the Women in the Countryside programme with my colleague Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, and we’ll soon start promoting other programmes to ensure that the information reaches all economic entities. Large and small business owners are all important to us, and we must find time and understanding for each of them.”

The term in office of this Serbian government was marked in advance as crucial due to the organisation of Expo 2027. What responsibilities does the Ministry of Economy have?

“Our country has many new opportunities, thanks primarily to the policies of our President, Aleksandar Vučić. The world is facing great challenges, and our country, I would say, is facing historically significant opportunities. Of course, those who don’t love Serbia and the Serbian flag oppose this because they don’t want progress, prosperity, or a better life for our citizens. But they are a tiny minority because the citizens of Serbia have chosen the policy of Aleksandar Vučić, who is leading this country forward. The years leading up to 2027 are the years of Expo, and we are all fully committed to organising this world exhibition. The Ministry of Economy will work on encouraging the development of economic activity and implementing a series of projects with state support, such as the construction of hotels. Additionally, we will work on branding Serbian products with the Expo brand, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance team, as we expect a large number of tourists and visitors, whom we plan to introduce to Serbian wines, rakija, ajvar... We want to encourage the production of these recognisable products as much as possible so that the Serbian brand becomes something everyone will enjoy and take away as the most beautiful postcard from our country. We have also started providing incentives for traditional crafts and local handicrafts, and we will especially promote these artistic works within the framework of the large world exhibition Expo 2027.”

What will this exhibition mean for Serbia's economy?

“The trends in economic activity in our country show constant growth, which will be especially pronounced in the coming years. Investments in Expo-related projects are increasing, and this will directly affect economic flows and activity. In addition, we have the Jadar project, in which I sincerely believe and hope for its successful implementation, involving the exploitation of the jadarite ore. This project will be a historic and the largest stepping stone for our economy. With the development of supply chains and the jadarite exploitation project, a quantum leap for our economy is ahead of us.”

You have announced new support programmes for the economy. What will be offered?

“We’ve offered something different and more innovative; we’ve come out with a new concept that we’ve worked on for a long time. We’ve recognised categories that haven’t been individually acknowledged before. With a set of prepared support programmes, we’ve fully turned towards the sector of smaller businesses and entrepreneurs. We are aware that the biggest barrier to the growth of small and medium-sized domestic enterprises is access to financial sources, so in the first 100 days of the government, we launched nine support programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises worth four billion dinars, half of which will be grants, and the other half favourable loans. We are also working on supporting female entrepreneurs and small companies to further strengthen them and connect them with large retail chains and secure their product placement.”

How can the business environment be improved and made even more attractive for investments?

“We will soon start major infrastructure projects, with which we will increase the capacity of industrial zones and be ready to welcome new investors. These will be places where new factories will spring up.”

How do you respond to criticisms that the state favours foreign investors?

“And who is making such criticisms? The same people who don’t want further development of our country. Do you remember who they favoured when they were in power? Only their party colleagues and godfathers, because there were no foreign investments in our country. Foreign direct investments in 2012 amounted to about one billion euros, and we ended last year with 4.5 billion euros. Do you know how much stronger and more stable the domestic economy is thanks to cooperation with foreign investors? These are the supply chains we continue to work on. This is wealth; this is how economies develop. I am proud of what our state and President Vučić are doing. There is no favouritism of any kind; we provide support to both domestic and foreign investors. There is only one goal, and that is the development of our economy.”

This week, the electric Panda, the first electric vehicle produced in Kragujevac, was presented. What are the benefits of this product for Serbia's economy, and what does it bring us in the near future?

“This is just one example that the future is being written in Serbia. The electric Panda is produced in the heart of Šumadija and assembled by our craftsmen. This is a big deal for the further development of Kragujevac, but also invaluable for the entire country, for GDP growth, job creation, technological advancement, and attracting new investments. We are continuing to brand Serbia as a country that is a pioneer in innovation and technological development. With the Serbian Panda, we are entering the global race in the electric vehicle industry. We will motivate domestic consumers and provide subsidies of 5,000 euros for the purchase of electric cars.”

On the Jadar project

‘Healthy people and a healthy land are sacred to us’

You mentioned the Jadar Project. The issue of lithium mining is a hot topic that will likely remain in focus for a long time. How do you understand the arguments of those who oppose this project, which are mainly centred on environmental concerns?

“They have no arguments, just a dirty political campaign. The fear of jadarite is only in the eyes of the opposition manipulators and their satellites, who themselves initiated the arrival of Rio Tinto in Serbia in 2001. As before, we will examine the justification of every new project from all aspects. For us, healthy people and a healthy land are sacred, and there is no gambling with that; the condition for everything is the application of the highest ecological standards.”

Do you expect to gain more support for this lithium story as decision-makers?

“It depends solely on us how we will use all the opportunities available to us, both in mineral exploitation and in all other segments, and we will be guided solely by our Serbian interests. This distinguishes us from all those who have been attacking President Vučić and the Serbian government for days, from fake environmentalists who are fighting only for personal interests and someone’s dirty capital. The citizens of Serbia have long seen through their intentions, and I am sure they do not believe the dirty campaign they are now waging against the Jadar Project. This leadership of Serbia is doing its job seriously and approaches every project seriously and responsibly, respecting the word of experts, and will enable Serbia to use its potential in the best possible way. And we are not just talking about mining, but about the entire value chain that will generate thousands of new jobs in the mining industry and related industries, increased revenue from income taxes, various fees, larger local budgets, accelerated infrastructure development in local communities... We have no other address or backup homeland, and we will do everything to make our Serbia an even better place to live.”

Kurir