Thursday, 25 February 2010

Deputies’ Questions

On 25 February, at 4 p.m., in line with article 200 paragraph 1 of the National Assembly Rules of Procedure, the deputies called a recess in the debate on the agenda for the First Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2010, and posed various questions to the Government.



On 25 February, at 4 p.m., in line with article 200 paragraph 1 of the National Assembly Rules of Procedure, the deputies called a recess in the debate on the agenda for the First Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2010, and posed various questions to the Government.

This part of the sitting was attended by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia Mirko Cvetkovic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic, Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac, Minister of Finance Dr Diana Dragutinovic, Minister of Justice Snezana Malovic, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Dr Sasa Dragin, Minister of Energy and Mining Dr Petar Skundric, Minister of Infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjic, Minister of Trade and Services Slobodan Milosavljevic, Minister of Education Zarko Obradovic, Minister of Health Dr Tomica Milosavljevic, Minister of Telecommunication and Information Society Jasna Matic, Minister of Human and Minority Rights Svetozar Ciplic, Minister without Portfolio Sulejman Ugljanin.

Deputy Cedomir Jovanovic posed several questions to the Prime Minister regarding the fight against corruption and corrupt people, talks with the IMF, the privatisation of NIS and Bar Harbour and censure of the crime in Srebrenica. Answering the questions, Prime Minister Cvetkovic said that anti-corruption efforts were among the Government’s main priorities and that the fight against it and corrupted people had taken a significant step forward in the previous period, but that there was still room for improvement and progress. To deputy Jovanovic’s question about who was responsible for certain criminals becoming Serbian citizens, leading drug lord Darko Saric among them, Cvetkovic said that it was possible Saric was corrupt even before he gained Serbian citizenship, but that he did not possess data on it, adding that he had heard about the Saric brothers case only a couple of months ago. Regarding relations with the IMF Cvetkovic said that the IMF visit passed without problems and that the Serbian Government had met and exceeded the expectations envisaged by the agreement with the financial institution. The pension harmonisation details were still being worked out, the Prime Minister said adding that linking the pensions to the salary movement in the public sector had provided the Government with the instruments to pursue an adequate economic policy.

Deputy Velimir Ilic wanted to know how it was possible that the project of optical cable laying in the Corridor 10 zone was awarded without a tender and whether it was true that Jugobanka, as the founder of Zagrebacka Banka, had invested funds and that said bank had almost a million shares that Serbia was not interested in. Prime Minister Cvetkovic responded that all the data on the banks’ business dealings should be forwarded to the competent authorities, and Minister of Infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjic said that the deputy would receive a written answer.

Deputy Dragan Sormaz asked when the Serbian MUP began the operational processing of the Saric brothers and when Darko Saric received the new identity card and passport in Serbia. Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said that he was unable to answer the question and that even if he had the data he would be unable to divulge it. Minister of Justice Snezana Malovic added that it would be truly unprofessional to disclose data on the operational processing of or the Prosecutor’s Office engagement on the Saric brothers case. She reminded the deputies of the seizure of about three tons of cocaine, one of the biggest seizures in the world that testifies to the Serbian Government’s priorities – fight against organised crime and corruption.

Deputy Bozidar Delic asked questions about the situation in the anti-hail protection sector and corruption in certain radar centres. Prime Minister Cvetkovic said that the Government was not in charge of the fight against corrupt people, the police was and that information on such occurrences should be forwarded to it. Regarding the procurement of anti-hail rockets, he announced that, if regulations had been broken, he would immediately ascertain it and initiate proceedings.

Answering deputy Vlajko Senic’s question about the activities on the Southern Stream gas pipeline, Minister of Energy and Mining Petar Skundric stated that all the activities, as well as Serbia’s involvement in the pan-European project were going according to plan. He also reiterated that more than 10 European states were involved in the project, so it was not a bilateral project between Serbia and Russia adding that, irrespective to it, the national gasification plan of Serbia was also underway. Prime Minister Cvetkovic mentioned the results of the Energy Safety Summit in Budapest and pointed out that, at the initiative of the Serbian delegation, the importance of the Southern Stream gas pipeline was emphasised in the joint declaration, which was then supported by Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovenia.

Deputy Nemanja Sarovic posed a question about the business transactions of the owner of Pink, asking whether the Government had ever controlled the assets and if it controlled the TV station’s programme. Prime Minister Cvetkovic said that the Government i.e. the Ministry of Finance controlled the financial transactions of companies but did not control the programme, that was done by appropriate regulatory bodies, independent of the Government.

Responding to the questions posed by deputies Srdjan Mikovic and Stefan Zankov regarding flood prevention and Government’s assistance to flooded areas, Prime Minister Cvetkovic announced that the Serbian Government would urgently decide on sending assistance to endangered areas and that the funds would be secured from the budgetary reserves. He stated that considerable funds were invested into flood prevention every year, but that they have proved to be insufficient.

Deputy Ivan Andric asked the Minister of Energy why the Serbian citizens paid the same price for domestic and Russian gas. Minister Skundric said that we have a single price of energy sources based on the proportions and share of the gas Serbia produced and that bought from Gasprom.

Deputy Zeljko Tomic asked the Minister of Interior several questions the answer to which he would receive in writing, according to Prime Minister Cvetkovic. Minister of Justice Snezana Malovic answered that the Ministry of Justice is not in possession of data on the stage of court proceedings and informed deputy Tomic that she would forward his question to the Prosecutor’s Office or court.

Deputy Vladan Jeremic wanted to know what specifically had the Government of the Republic of Serbia accomplished and what gave it reason to be satisfied. Minister of Finance Diana Dragutinovic reminded him of some of the elements that had been achieved better than planned by the programme, such as the decline of economic activity which was lesser than planned, as well as inflation, fiscal deficit and balance of payments deficit. She also added that the reform of the pension system in Serbia should realise over 50 billion RSD of savings by 2020 and decrease the inflow of new pensioners.

To deputy Zika Gojkovic‘s question on how far along the preparation of the restitution law was, Minister of Finance Diana Dragutinovic reminded that the laws on public property and restitution should have been presented before the Parliament by 2009, but that was not the case because it was a very sensitive matter. According to her, a version of the restitution law is finished, but certain harmonisations are currently underway.

The question deputy Vesna Pesic planned to ask was posed on her behalf by Cedomir Jovanovic. He said that the Government representatives should answer the question – who gave the Sarices IDs and added that they could not answer the question because, among other things, they were bound by law. Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac said that there should be no doubt that the Government would do all in its power to uncover the background of all criminal offenses and proposed to schedule a sitting of the Committee on Defense and Security to discuss the defense reform and what to do regarding the transformation of the defense system.



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friday, 29 march
  • 9.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

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