Serbian companies to increase investment in Republika Srpska
Serbian Minister of Finance Mladjan Dinkic said today in Banja Luka that he talked with Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Pero Bukejlovic about the improvement of economic cooperation between the two countries and announced that Serbian companies will increase their investments in Republika Srpska.
Dinkic said that Serbian companies are especially interested in investing in the food and timber industries. He said that it is expected that a large political and business delegation from Serbia will visit Banja Luka in spring next year in order to make an agreement on joint investments with representatives of companies from Republika Srpska. Leading Serbian companies are also interested in taking part in the privatisation of some companies in Republika Srpska.
According to Dinkic, the Belgrade-based Komercijalna Banka plans to apply for a license in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to better facilitate the financing of business projects in Republika Srpska.
Dinkic said that the cooperation between the two ministries of finance was also discussed, first and foremost in building some mechanisms for improving citizens’ living standard, such as housing loans.
The finance minister said that the Serbian government will offer technical assistance to the government of Republika Srpska to establish the institution for housing loan insurance and for providing subsidies to the young towards the purchase of apartments, done so with loans bearing an annual inflation rate of 4.5 percent.
Dinkic said that the repayment of debt of the health fund of the Republika Srpska to health institutions in Serbia was also discussed, and added that during the day Serbian Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic will discuss the issue with his counterpart in Republika Srpska, Ivo Komljenovic.