Public enterprises owe EUR 11 billion

Public enterprises owe EUR 11 billion

Kisic said on Wednesday at a panel on Serbia's reform of public administration and public sector that, for an example, public enterprises made a total loss of RSD 51 billion in 2013.

Public enterprises constitute a major share of the Serbian economy, Kisic said, specifying that 17 big public enterprises engage over 19 percent of the assets of the Serbian economy and hire around 10 percent of the total number of employees.

She said that public enterprises are a generator of illiquidity and noted that, for an example, Serbian Railways cannot cover a third of its expenses with the revenue, and that the public transportation company GSP Beograd cannot pay employees' salaries from its revenue.

Kisic said that almost all public enterprises are burdened with incompetent management, high expenses, and inefficient work of a large number of workers.

She underlined that public enterprises need to be reformed as soon as possible, budgetary constraints made stricter, business transparency greater, "particracy" banished, and efficiency of their work stepped up through corporatization.

Restructuring enterprises owe to public enterprises around EUR 670 million, she said.

To illustrate, one working hour is paid four times more in public enterprises in Serbia - RSD 809, than in the private sector - RSD 226, Kisic said.

She said that the research shows that private sector employees work 7.18 hours per day and public sector workforce 3.45 hours per day on average.

Public enterprises also have higher salaries than the rest of the public sector, she said, adding that those employed with Corridors of Serbia have the biggest salaries.

Vidosava Dzagic, state secretary at the ministry of public administration and local self-government, said that a public sector reform will be conducted in the next three years, the most important thing in the process being to map out generators of expenses and inefficiency.

“The system of coordination and communication must be changed, the responsibility should be clearly established,” Dzagic said, adding that the goal is to provide citizens with a quality public service, and stop squandering budget funds.