At the fifty-third sitting held on 5 May, the members of the Finance Committee discussed in principle the Bill amending and modifying the Law on the State Audit Institution, submitted by deputies Milan Vuckovic, Branislav Jovanovic, Zoran Kasalovic, Branka Ljiljak, Balint Pasztor, Zarko Pivac and Mihailo Puric

They also considered the Bill on the Confirmation of the Financial Agreement (Research and development in the public sector) between the Republic of Serbia and the European Investment Bank and the Bill on the Confirmation of the Donation Agreement (Relief for infrastructure projects for the local framework) part of IPA 2008 multi-beneficiary programme between the European Investment Bank and the Republic of Serbia and the City of Belgrade, submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

The Committee also discussed the Report of the Council of the Serbian National Bank on the grounds for termination of office of Serbian National Bank Governor, Mr. Radovan Jelasic.

The sitting was attended by the SAI Council President Radoslav Sretenovic and associates, NBS Governor Radovan Jelasic and associates, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Science and Technological Development.

Branka Ljiljak, Committee Deputy Chairperson and on of the submitters of the Bill, presented the Bill amending and modifying the Law on the State Audit Institution. She stated that the Bill alters the provisions of the existing SAI Law relating to the income of authorised auditors and SAI Council, after which the Committee members unanimously adopted the Bill in principle.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Financial Agreement (Research and development in the public sector) between the Republic of Serbia and the European Investment Bank secures 200 million EUR worth of funds for scientific investment projects. The repayment period is 20 years with a 6-year grace period. After the address of the representative of the Ministry of Finance and a short discussion the Committee members accepted this Bill in principle as well.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Donation Agreement (Relief for infrastructure projects for the local framework) part of IPA 2008 multi-beneficiary programme between the European Investment Bank and the Republic of Serbia and the City of Belgrade was presented by a representative of the Ministry of Finance who stated that the Bill secures additional 6 million EUR worth of funds for the rehabilitation of Belgrade city lake. The Finance Committee members accepted this Bill in principle as well.

The Committee went on to consider the Report of the Council of the Serbian National Bank on the grounds for termination of office of Serbian National Bank Governor, Mr. Radovan Jelasic. Governor Jelasic repeated that the reasons for his resignation were personal and his belief that he should resign as NBS Governor after a 5-year term of office. The Committee members unanimously adopted the Report as well as a Decision Proposal on sufficient grounds for termination of office of Governor of the National Bank of Serbia which they forwarded to the National Assembly for adoption under urgent procedure.

The Finance Committee will continue its fifty-third sitting and discussion on the remaining items on the agenda on Tuesday, 11 May 2010.

The sitting was chaired by Zoran Krasic, Committee Chairman.

In the continuation on 11 May, the members of the Finance Committee considered the remaining items on the agenda for the fifty-third sitting. They discussed the Bill on the Confirmation of the Amendment of the Convention Establishing a Customs Cooperation Council, Bill amending and modifying the Insurance Law and the Bill amending and modifying the Law on Voluntary Pension Funds and Pension Plans, submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

They also considered the State Audit Institution 2009 Annual Activity Report, National Bank of Serbia 2010 Monetary Policy Programme, National Bank of Serbia 2010 Financial Plan, 2009 Activity Report on the Council of the National Bank of Serbia, National Bank of Serbia Report on the National Bank of Serbia’s measures and activities for overcoming the financial and economic crisis in the country.

The continuation of the sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairman, Zoran Krasic, and attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance, SAI Council President Radoslav Sretenovic, NBS Governor Radovan Jelasic and NBS Council President Dejan Soskic.

The representatives of the Ministry of Finance presented the Bills on the Confirmation of the Amendment of the Convention Establishing a Customs Cooperation Council, amending and modifying the Insurance Law and amending and modifying the Law on Voluntary Pension Funds and Pension Plans, after which the Committee members accepted them all in principle by a majority of votes.

SAI Council President Radoslav Sretenovic presented the SAI’s 2009 Annual Activity Report stating the basic data on the executed audit, work of the SAI Council, cooperation with international organisations and other activities in the past year.

NBS Council President Dejan Soskic and Governor Radovan Jelasic briefed the Committee members on the National Bank of Serbia 2010 Monetary Policy Programme, National Bank of Serbia 2010 Financial Plan, 2009 Activity Report on the Council of the National Bank of Serbia and National Bank of Serbia Report on the National Bank of Serbia’s measures and activities for overcoming the financial and economic crisis in the country. The Governor gave a special focus on the current economic crisis in Greece and evaluated the measures undertaken by the EU and IMF in order to overcome it.