SPS now backs fresh changes to excise tariffs

Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Ivica Dacic says his party is ready to back new changes to the Law on Excise Tariffs. "The interest of the country is what comes first. The SPS will support everything that the government decides about the Excise Law," he said. SPS now backs fresh changes to excise tariffs Dacic, Serbia's first deputy premier and interior minister, spoke in Belgrade on Tuesday and added that the adoption of the controversial amendment, tabled by the SPS and passed in parliament last week, came because of "late coordination between the deputy groups". Speaking to reporters, Dacic rejected claims that businessman Predrag Rankovic Peconi was financing his party, adding he is "prepared to agree that the financial situation of all parties is revealed". The media speculated that Rankovic and his cigarette factory stood to gain the most from the amendment protecting the domestic production, which the Socialists managed to push through with the help of the opposition and some ruling coalition members. But foreign companies, most notably Philip Morris, were reportedly threatening to leave Serbia if the changes to the law remained. However, the company today denied Monday's media reports, but said it could "reconsider its investment plans in Serbia".

SPS now backs fresh changes to excise tariffs

Dačić, Serbia's first deputy premier and interior minister, spoke in Belgrade on Tuesday and added that the adoption of the controversial amendment, tabled by the SPS and passed in parliament last week, came because of "late coordination between the deputy groups".

Speaking to reporters, Dačić rejected claims that businessman Predrag Ranković Peconi was financing his party, adding he is "prepared to agree that the financial situation of all parties is revealed".

The media speculated that Ranković and his cigarette factory stood to gain the most from the amendment protecting the domestic production, which the Socialists managed to push through with the help of the opposition and some ruling coalition members.

But foreign companies, most notably Philip Morris, were reportedly threatening to leave Serbia if the changes to the law remained. However, the company today denied Monday's media reports, but said it could "reconsider its investment plans in Serbia".