Minister: Gazprom money on its way

Energy and Mining Minister Petar Skundric says that the transfer of Gazpromneft funds for NIS is under way. Skundric said that the money would “definitely be paid, if not today, then on Monday.“ Minister: Gazprom money on its way He added that the sum of EUR 400mn for the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS) would definitely be paid by then, explaining that “technical issues are involved in trying to minimize bank charges during the transfer.“ The minister said that in the next 10 days the NIS shareholders’ assembly would elect a board of 10 directors, six of whom will be from Gazpromneft and five from NIS. “This will create the conditions for beginning capital investment in NIS, and around EUR 550mn will be invested over the next four years,“ he said. Skundric also announced plans for new investment ventures in the energy sector as this, he said, was the best response to the economic crisis. He said that in the next fortnight, the government would adopt a new bail-out package geared towards infrastructure projects and would cover the energy field as well. “Our wish is to get as many people as possible into work in Serbia by opening large public projects, because only through creating new values can we get out of this crisis,“ Skundric said. He praised the bail-out measures approved by the government yesterday, adding that their value lay in the fact that they would offer cheap loans as support to companies to work better during the crisis period. “It's support for domestic products and for citizens through interest rate cuts in order to increase their spending power for domestic products,“ the minister explained. Skundric said that the concept of the government’s measures was good because it did not call for budget hand-outs and enabled state assistance to the banking system. He added that money had also been set aside to stimulate job creation. Petar Skundric (Tanjug, archive)

Minister: Gazprom money on its way

He added that the sum of EUR 400mn for the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS) would definitely be paid by then, explaining that “technical issues are involved in trying to minimize bank charges during the transfer.“

The minister said that in the next 10 days the NIS shareholders’ assembly would elect a board of 10 directors, six of whom will be from Gazpromneft and five from NIS.

“This will create the conditions for beginning capital investment in NIS, and around EUR 550mn will be invested over the next four years,“ he said.

Škundrić also announced plans for new investment ventures in the energy sector as this, he said, was the best response to the economic crisis.

He said that in the next fortnight, the government would adopt a new bail-out package geared towards infrastructure projects and would cover the energy field as well.

“Our wish is to get as many people as possible into work in Serbia by opening large public projects, because only through creating new values can we get out of this crisis,“ Škundrić said.

He praised the bail-out measures approved by the government yesterday, adding that their value lay in the fact that they would offer cheap loans as support to companies to work better during the crisis period.

“It's support for domestic products and for citizens through interest rate cuts in order to increase their spending power for domestic products,“ the minister explained.

Škundrić said that the concept of the government’s measures was good because it did not call for budget hand-outs and enabled state assistance to the banking system.

He added that money had also been set aside to stimulate job creation.