The project met the need, expressed by the Government of the FRY to the Italian Government, to receive support in the transition process and, more specifically, technical assistance in managing the difficult privatization process. A Team Leader acted as Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Economy and Privatization of the Republic of Serbia, designing and implementing promotion and dissemination activity. In parallel, workshops and seminars were organized in Italy with the aim of promoting investment opportunities in the FYR in the following sectors: agri-food industry, chemical-pharmaceuticals, car-making, textile, electronics, tobacco industry, building materials, tourism. The project included activities such as preparation (prospectus publication, selection of method), implementation (tender, auction, restructuring) and monitoring (investment, social, environmental and protection programs). The initiation of the privatization process is based on a letter of interest from potential investors. Tender procedure (for 150 entities) consisted of: preparation of the privatization program, tender documents, public bidding, evaluation and selection of proposals, negotiation and contract. Sectors for tenders were: pharmaceutical, chemical, mechanical, wood industry, agro-industry, paper production, construction materials and others. Auction procedure (for 7,000 entities) consisted of: public announcement, privatization program, documentation, public invitation, public auction, contract. Issues tackled included: legal status of Serbian Companies (social ownership and non-corporate status, documentation of titles and land registry, licenses for operations and intellectual property protection), financial status (indebtness -credits, tax arrears, utilities- poor representation/significant deviation from IAS, declining operating results in 2002), social status (overstaffing).

Type of service

Technical Assistance for the privatisation process in the Republic of Serbia.

Promotion activities to share the opportunities available for Serbian enterprises in Italy, organisation of workshop and seminars.

Training activities.

Project Management.