The Law on Privatization in Serbia is ‘’ merely a formal issue, not law-abiding for the Government, and it protects the interest of the people from the previous regime’’, said the President of the Anti-Corruption Council, Mrs. Verica Barac yesterday. According to her, ‘’ the same group of people’’ from the previous regime ‘’ has been creating a privatization procedure in Serbia for over 15 years. There was no will to break up with the previous regime and those people are now the foundation of the new privatization, performed since 2000, in the name of the state, but for their account’’, claimed Mrs. Barac for the Beta Agency. 

Mrs. Barac feels that the present Law on Privatization gives fantastic opportunities for corruption and monopoly creation, especially in the field of retail trade and dairy industry. Also, major commercial chains can not enter Serbia if they are not connected with the companies belonging to the businessmen from the previous regime, who placed their key people at the most important positions. Mrs. Barac thinks that the Privatization Agency has been given an enormous discretion power, which is a corruption prone environment and practically means that all privatization procedures address to Ministry of Economy.

The President of the governmental anti-corruption body deems that the whole procedure of the privatization in the past years is being performed ‘’ without money laundry control’’. With a ‘’ completely clear intention that, someone, for instance, buys a factory in Serbia, and that no one asks him where the money came from’’. According to her, the negotiations on the new Government showed that everything that was done in the past seven years had no a purpose. She adds that as long as there is no improvement of life standards, the so far adopted laws, including the Law on Privatization, make no sense. 

‘’ We are a trapped state’’, deems Mrs. Barac and states further that ‘’ if we look at results, all this transition, adoption of laws, everything that happened in Serbia took us nowhere’’.

Foreign investments trough tycoons

‘’ The Government acts irresponsibly towards the citizens and it is clear that nothing has changed actually.  The ‘tycoons’ of today were more insecure in the time of Milosevic, while now they feel at ease’’, said President of the Anti-Corruption Council for Beta Agency, adding that the reason for this situation is because ‘’ a group of powerful men’’ creates laws according to their interest. ‘’ There is no protection of the private property in Serbia, and foreigners that invest here come only trough these ‘tycoons’, because every one who solicits in a legal fashion has no chance, finished Mrs. Barac.