Serbia's big problem: We can't find engineers for 2,000 euros 150 km from Belgrade

Zoran Drakulic, president of the Serbian Business Club Privrednik, says it is "frightening" that the volume of domestic private investment in Serbia had dropped by 40 percent last year.

He stressed that businessmen don't have an environment that would allow them to trust investing in their country, which is why they invest in regional countries.

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"Now there is a trend of domestic capital flight. We are moving to the surrounding markets where we feel better," Drakulic said at the Belgrade Stock Exchange conference, noting that Serbian businessmen invest a lot of money in Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia.

Drakulic pointed out that there is money to invest, that capital is cheap and that domestic companies can borrow, if necessary, as well as bring foreign funds into the country.

"We need to restore trust of the domestic economy to invest, because we cannot dream of a 5 percent growth without domestic investments," he said.

He also believes that domestic and foreign investors are unequal in terms of government subsidies, stating that about 80 percent of subsidies given to date have gone to foreign investors.

Drakulic said that the ministries of economy and finance should have an intensive dialogue with local businessmen, because they have the knowledge and experience that could be valuable for planning and realizing the further growth of the Serbian economy.

"Everyone is waiting and won't invest until trust and dialogue with the state are restored," said Drakulic.

He also said that the Serbian economy is yet to feel the problem of labor shortages and that workers will have to be imported to Serbia.

"We cannot find engineers for 2,000 euros 150 kilometers from Belgrade," he said.

(Telegraf Biznis/Beta)