Supply disruptions, reduced demand for goods and services and decreasing of investments as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 virus pandemic have forced states to intervene by adopting a set of measures aimed at protecting the health of citizens, preserving jobs and supporting the economy. Deferral of payments of taxes and social contributions, facilitated access to loans, direct assistance to small and medium enterprises are just some of the types of support that countries have provided to the private sector.
The 5.1 billion-euro scheme provided by the Serbian government to support businesses has raised an issue of whether the rules for granting aid are in line with that of the European Union, the accession to which Serbia has been negotiating. To what extent businesses used this support, what are the positive and negative sides of the adopted measures, and what needs to be done further to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on the Serbian economy, find out in the video prepared within the “Prepare to Participate” project, implemented by the Center for European Policies (CEP), National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) and Centre for Contemporary Politics (CSP) through the European Western Balkans portal, with the financial support of the European Union.
