Italian prime minister postpones visit to Belgrade

Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has postponed his visit to Belgrade on Friday due to obligations related to the budget adoption in the Italian parliament. Head of the Foreign Desk in the Italian Prime Minister Press Office Marco Ventura told Tanjug this on Thursday. Italian prime minister postpones visit to Belgrade Serbian President Boris Tadic’s office told Tanjug they had been informed about the postponement of the visit. Ventura told Tanjug that Berlusconi had personally informed Tadic about his decision. “The prime minister has regretfully informed President Tadic about the postponement of his visit. The two officials agreed that a new date for the visit should be scheduled as soon as possible,” Ventura explained. He added that Berlusconi was hoping to the last moment that he would be able to visit Belgrade on Friday but that the delay had to take place due to a change in the budget-voting schedule. This is the second time that the Italian prime minister is postponing his visit to Belgrade. He was supposed to attend the Serbia-Italy Summit on Friday. However, postponement of the Italian government representatives’ visit to Serbia should not cause any problems and according to officials the summit will be held. The Italian and Serbian government representatives’ summit was supposed to encourage investments in joint projects. Italy is Serbia’s biggest foreign trade partner. The two countries’ companies did business worth EUR 2.5bn last year. “Cooperation is at a high level and can be deepened even more because there are numerous opportunities for Italian investors. More than 250 Italian companies are doing business in Serbia at the moment, but we have an announcement of new investments, primarily in the area of food industry, mechanics and wood processing,” says Italian-Serbian Business Chamber’s Pietro Vacchiano. One of the new investments, that should be publically presented during Berlusconi’s visit, is construction of Kolubara B thermoelectric power plant and investments worth almost EUR 1bn in hydroelectric power plants. “I would rather say that we are somewhere in the beginning of a good trend ahead of us, keeping in mind interest of the Italian companies that still haven’t started doing business here. Compared to the other countries, their interest is the biggest by far,” Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) Director Bozidar Laganin explained. Silvio Berlusconi (Tanjug, file)

Italian prime minister postpones visit to Belgrade

Serbian President Boris Tadić’s office told Tanjug they had been informed about the postponement of the visit.

Ventura told Tanjug that Berlusconi had personally informed Tadić about his decision.

“The prime minister has regretfully informed President Tadić about the postponement of his visit. The two officials agreed that a new date for the visit should be scheduled as soon as possible,” Ventura explained.

He added that Berlusconi was hoping to the last moment that he would be able to visit Belgrade on Friday but that the delay had to take place due to a change in the budget-voting schedule.

This is the second time that the Italian prime minister is postponing his visit to Belgrade.

He was supposed to attend the Serbia-Italy Summit on Friday.

However, postponement of the Italian government representatives’ visit to Serbia should not cause any problems and according to officials the summit will be held.

The Italian and Serbian government representatives’ summit was supposed to encourage investments in joint projects. Italy is Serbia’s biggest foreign trade partner. The two countries’ companies did business worth EUR 2.5bn last year.

“Cooperation is at a high level and can be deepened even more because there are numerous opportunities for Italian investors. More than 250 Italian companies are doing business in Serbia at the moment, but we have an announcement of new investments, primarily in the area of food industry, mechanics and wood processing,” says Italian-Serbian Business Chamber’s Pietro Vacchiano.

One of the new investments, that should be publically presented during Berlusconi’s visit, is construction of Kolubara B thermoelectric power plant and investments worth almost EUR 1bn in hydroelectric power plants.

“I would rather say that we are somewhere in the beginning of a good trend ahead of us, keeping in mind interest of the Italian companies that still haven’t started doing business here. Compared to the other countries, their interest is the biggest by far,” Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) Director Božidar Laganin explained.