Serbia 2017

candidate, winning in the first round, with 55% of the votes. According to OSCE ODIHR, a distinction between campaign and official activities by the PM was effectively blurred, benefiting his position and allowing him to dominate in the elections. Following his assuming of the office of President, in June, a new Government was elected in the Parliament, with Ana Brnabić as the PM. She served as the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-government during the previous term.

interfere into politics and shape the public opinion on some sensitive issues, such as Kosovo, however their influence has been weak.

have been terminated. Physical and verbal attacks against journalists are in increase. During the inauguration of the newly elected President, several journalists from various outlets were attacked by unknown civilians pretending to be security staff of the event.

the “pre-investigation” phase. Non-political illicit influences on courts (by powerful interest groups and/or via corruption) are stronger than direct political pressure and sometimes produce decisions that differ from the wishes of the executive yet also from what justice normally required (such as acquittal of tycoons or expiry of their cases in spite of the serious indications of illegalities). After years of keeping low profile, judges` professional associations recently started advocating faster reforms.

selectively. At the local level, it is even worse – most of the local governments do not even have proper anti-corruption bodies. Petty corruption is also widespread. As portal GAN noted, “the prevalence of bribery exceeds the regional average”. Overall, both the EU`s Progress Report 2016 and the Transparency International`s Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 showed that there was no progress in suppressing corruption in Serbia lately. The latter survey put Serbia to the place 72 of 176, together with Burkina Faso and Solomon Islands.

integration. Convicted war criminals who served their terms participate in public life without repent even in places and events where the government or the ruling parties are in full charge. Hate speech is often heard or read, whereby there is practically no remedy against the worst kinds of defamation if practiced by pro-government actors. On the other hand, climate is changing for better regarding a few other aspects of human rights. In June 2017, Serbia has got the first woman and first LGBT person ever, Ana Brnabić, at the position of its Prime Minister. Women also hold positions of the Speaker of Parliament, Governor of the Central Bank, Minister of Justice, etc. Legislative and law enforcement activities to curb domestic violence are relentless. Each year around, Belgrade Pride or some other LGBT events are taking part with less tension and slightly less need for police protection, even though homophobia is still very strong across society. Ethnic minorities (Hungarians, Bosniaks, Croats) are getting ever more space for integration into the political and social mainstream. Alas, the empowerment of Roma goes slower. Despite setbacks after the closing of the Western Balkans route (such as mixed police-army patrols at the southern border), Serbia`s treatment of refugees is still decent, whereby the government skillfully neutralizes occasional outbursts of xenophobia in various walks of life.

rulings are often inconsistent across different courts and judges. First level courts also often lack sufficient knowledge and expertise to assess more complicated issues, thus numerous cases are automatically transferred to appellation courts. Bankruptcy procedures are long, with low recovery rate of only 33%. Ownership of agricultural land is restricted to Serbian nationals only, but this restriction is circumvented by registering a domestic legal entity owned by a foreign national, so this regulation affects only foreign natural persons. However, nationals of the EU, under the Stabilization and Association Agreement will eventually have the right to acquire land. Land Register office coverage is restricted mostly to bigger cities, while the performance of its local branches varies significantly. The one year deadline for the application of the law on the conversion of the right of usage of land to the land proprietorship, during which this process had been postponed, passed in July 2016. Since then, land proprietorship has been a prerequisite for obtaining a building permit, which would expectedly help clarify property rights.

unsustainable pension system and bloated public wage bill remain at the core of public finance problems, followed by direct or indirect subsidies to inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOE).The process of privatization or liquidation of SOEs in restructuring is still under way, due to political pressures, although it was initially envisaged to be completed by 2015. The process is not considered as transparent, fueling concerns of corruptive activities. There are still numerous SOEs that are not envisaged for privatization, most notably in sectors such as mining, telecommunications, energy, transportation and banking. Corporate tax is set at 15%, while personal income tax is at 10%. High social security contributions, however, lead to a high labour tax wedge of 38.9% which, coupled with a weak institutional setting (tax authorities and labour inspectorate), fosters widespread shadow-economy activities and employment.

their dealings more expedient. Obtaining a construction permit has been made more business friendly, by significantly lowering the number of procedures and time limits, opening a one stop shop for investors and using electronic tools. Getting connection to the electricity grid imposes enormous costs, due to inefficient public-owned energy-distribution company and its high fees. Compliance with tax procedures is also burdensome, with complicated and sometimes contradictory regulations, exacerbated by the high number of annual payments and lack of expertise or resources by the public tax authority service. The most problematic factors for doing business are considered to be high tax rates and inefficient government bureaucracy. Labour market regulations are a mixture of flexible and restrictive solutions: working hours’ regulation is flexible, but fixed-term contracts are prohibited for permanent tasks, while their maximum duration is anyway limited to just 24 months. Severance pay increases in accordance with years in tenure, protecting the seasoned workers, but notice periods do not. The minimum wage is high as compared to the average wage, reaching almost 50% of the latter, which is fostering activities in the undeclared economy, especially among older or people with lower education attainment.

barriers are also in place, with complicated standardization and licensing procedures. The process of EU accession will further reform Serbia’s regulations in this area and get them more in line with the EU rules. Temporary variable tariffs on imported dairy products that were in place as of 2015 were finally abolished in December 2016. Customs agency is considered as inefficient, following complicated regulation. The institution lacks modern equipment that would enable it to use more online tools. The recently introduced New Computerized Transit System has significantly reduced transit burden, which is important for Serbia as a major trading hub due to its geographical position. However, low quality of transport infrastructure, especially the railroads, leads to high freight cost, hampering trade. Construction of the E10 and E11 international corridors is underway, but improvements are slow. Political uncertainty regarding Kosovo hampers trade with it, but the ongoing dialogue process facilitated by the EU, which included chambers of commerce, has somewhat improved the situation.