Since a number of businessmen sought support from the Ministry in tackling the issues relating to communication with certain agencies offering brokerage and information services for tenders announced by the Serbian Government and EU programmes, the Ministry of Economy has issued the following statement:
First of all, we recall that all the information about current programmes is available on the websites of the Ministry of Economy, Year of Entrepreneurship, regional development agencies, and Serbian Chamber of Commerce, whereas the information on EU programmes can be found on the websites of the EU Delegation to Serbia and the European Commission.
Also, neither the Ministry of Economy nor the EU Delegation to Serbia accept any recommendation regarding the allocation of funds. It must be noted that when it comes to funds, there are no “shortcuts”.
The businessmen complained mainly about the way certain agencies do their business. More specifically, they claimed that some agencies would interpret a verbal consent or the interest shown by businessmen during a phone call as an official commitment to impose their services and fees on businessmen. Failure to pay for those services would ultimately lead to filing a lawsuit.
In this context, the Ministry calls on all businessmen to be careful when communicating with agencies, to state clearly and unequivocally whether they agree to certain services or not, and to demand an explanation about the payment process.
The Ministry has held a meeting with a number of agencies and called on them to take into account the complaints made by the business community and adjust their business and communication models accordingly, in order to avoid new complaints being made in the future.
