Belgrade, 02. 04. 2008.

SERBIA-EU-NATO

• DINKIC: NEW INVESTMENTS AND STABLE DINAR FOR EUROPEAN SERBIA
• BUBALO: FOREIGN INVESTORS ARE NOT WITHDRAWING FROM SERBIA
• RUPEL: EU DECIDES TO ASSUME PRO-ACTIVE ROLE TOWARDS SERBIA
• BASESCU: SERBIA PAID ENOUGH FOR MISTAKES FROM PAST
• NATO STAYS OPEN FOR SERBIA'S ADMISSION

• JEREMIC: PORTUGAL ABSTAINS ON KOSOVO ISSUE
• TADIC CALLS FOR ELECTIONS TO BE HELD IN KOSOVO ALSO
• SUTANOVAC: GOVERNMENT WILL DECIDE ON ELECTION IN KOSMET
• SAMARDZIC: HELP IN MATERIAL AND MORAL SENSE
• STOP STATEMENTS OBSTRUCTING STATE POLICY TOWARS KOSOVO
• SERBIAN INSTITUTIONS WILL EMPLOY KOSOVO SERBS
• FIRST SHIPMENT OF HUMANITARIAN AID FROM RUSSIA ARRIVES
• LAVROV: RUSSIA TO PROTECT SERBS LEGALLY AND ECONOMICALLY
• LAVROV: RUSSIA WOULD NOT ALLOW KOSOVO'S UN MEMBERSHIP
• RUSSIA TO RAISE KOSOVO ISSUE AT RUSSIA-NATO SUMMIT
• GRYZLOV: KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE FUELS OTHER CONFLICT
• RYABKOV: RUSSIA IS AGAINST SUPPLYING KOSOVO WITH ARMS
• SPOKESMAN REUTER: EULEX TO BE ESTABLISHED IN FIVE STAGES
• PARKHALINA: INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MAKING HUGE MISTAKE
• DAMASCUS FOR RESPECT OF UN CHARTER AND ALL RESOLUTIONS
• CZECH CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS STILL REFUSE TO RECOGNIZE KOSOVO
• MACEDONIA-KOSOVO BORDER DEMARCATION COMMITTEE MEETS

• TADIC: NON-PARTY OFFICIALS IN OPTION AS WELL
• KOSTUNICA: SERBIA CANNOT BE DIVIDED
• DINKIC: HORGOS-POZEGA HIGHWAY IS NOT ONLY PRIORITY
• BUBALO: TRAFFIC IS BACKBONE OF SERBIA'S DEVELOPMENT
• BUBALO: AGREEMENT SHOULD BE ADOPTED WITHOUT FAIL
• KHRISTENKO: RUSSIA READY, SERBIA SHOULD RATIFY AGREEMENT
• DEFENSE MINISTRY DELEGATION AT BUCHAREST CONFERENCE
• SERBIAN COMPANY TO TAKE PART IN OIL PIPELINE PROJECT PEOP
• EBRD TO INVEST 260 ML EUROS IN SERBIA THIS YEAR

ALEKSINAC/SERBIA, April 1 (Tanjug) - Minister Mladjan Dinkic told the inhabitants of Aleksinac on Tuesday that if they vote for those who are telling them that there is no hurry to join the European Union, then they should not complain that there are not enough jobs. "You should vote as you want at the coming elections, and you will live as you have voted. If you back a european Serbia, I promise new investments, a stable dinar and vice versa, if you cast your ballots for the others, do not be surprised at the devaluation of the dinar in the near future," Dinkic stated. "I want to help Kosovo which was siezed from us through the violation of international laws and that is unjust. However, I want to help by securing new jobs and new factories for the Serbs in Kosovo," Dinkic pointed out.

BELGRADE, April 1 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister of Trade and Services Predrag Bubalo on Tuesday invited businessmen not to believe assessments from the election campaign regarding reductions in the volume of foreign investments in Serbia and added that foreign investors were not withdrawing from Serbia. In a round table discussion on the sustainable development of Belgrade and Serbia, Bubalo stressed the example of the Carlsberg Serbia company, which allocated new investments for Serbia and closed plants elsewhere in the region. He said that Serbia could not go back to the 1990s because it had replaced socialism by capitalism. Bubalo said that Serbia was well on its way to the European Union, because a large number of companies had been privatised in the past period and because about 2,000 foreign and a large number of domestic companies operated in the country. "Every foreign company that has arrived in Serbia has brought its production standards and procedures from the European Union and works according to them," Bubalo said and added that domestic companies exporting to the European market had to adjust their operation to the European market because they would not survive otherwise. He said that businessmen would do much more than politicians to bring Serbia closer to the EU and added that the moment of entry in the European Union would be a political decision and that "we should deal with the development of the country in the meantime."

LJUBLJANA, April 2 (Tanjug) - Slovenia's Foreign Minister Rupel has said there is no doubt that the European Union has decided in favour of a pro-active role towards Serbia, adding that such a stand was clearly presented at the last-week informal meeting of the Union's foreign ministers which was held in Brdo near Kranj. Reporting on the meeting, Rupel underlined that the temporary agreement which the EU had offered to Belgrade was still on the table, and said that in the next couple of days, additional steps might be made that would prove the Union's pro-active policy towards Serbia. Pointing out that Serbia had a crucial role in the region, Rupel said that the country was now facing a strategic choice of whether to maintain its European perspective and thus assume the role of the region's driving force.

BUCHAREST, April 2 (Tanjug) - NATO should be ready to offer Belgrade a clear prospect of return to the European and Euro Atlantic community because Serbia paid enough for mistakes from the past, Romanian President Traian Basescu said late on Tuesday while opening the Transatlantic Forum organized by the German Marshall Fund, on the margins of the NATO summit which begins in Bucharest on Wednesday. The Serbian people continue to pay for mistakes from the past made in the name of Serbia, Basescu said. Basescu expressed hope that at the Bucharest summit NATO will open the door for all three candidates - Albania, Croatia and Macedonia - but also that NATO, as he pointed out, has a duty to back Romanian partners in the Balkans on their Eurpean and Euro Atlantic path. I am pleased that we will have opportunity to meet with leaders of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, Basescu said.

LONDON, April 2 (Tanjug) - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said, ahead of the beginning of the NATO summit in Bucharest, that it is important that Serbia chooses the path of Euro Atlantic integration, and that NATO will give the country a helping hand in that regard.It is of great importance that despite the fundamental difference in opinions regarding Kosovo, Serbia chooses the path of Euro Atlantic integration, Scheffer said with the BBC and added that the people of Serbia will have the final word in that matter, and that NATO will give them a helping hand.Serbia is a member of the Partnership for peace, which I regard as very important, Scheffer said. Scheffer announced that Serbia will be on the agenda of the summit and that NATO remains open for its future admission.

LISBON, Apr 2 (Tanjug) - After his meeting with Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado in Lisbon on Wednesday, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told Tanjug that Portugal continues to abstain in regards to the issue of recognition of unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo. "Portugal does not join those countries that had decided to recognize this illegal act. I informed my counterpart that we highly appreciate Portugal's refraining and I informed him about our intentions to request legal opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) through the U.N. General Assembly in September," said Jeremic, who made a brief visit to Lisbon on his way back from Brasil. Jeremic underscored that a legal opinion of the ICJ would be an important reference that would help all those countries that have yet to decide how to approach the illegal declaration of independence in a way that would be legally correct. During his meeting with Jeremic, Amado said that the Portuguese government "highly appreciates the degree of refrain that Serbian had demonstrated so far under such difficult circumstances" relating to Kosovo and Metohija. "They believes that Serbia had responded on the issue in an adequate way and that it would continue to be engaged diplomatically, politically and every other way aiming at establishing peace and stability in our southern province," said Jeremic.

Late on April 1, Serbian President Boris Tadic said that he favored preserving the country's territorial integrity which implies that the country's upcoming elections need to be held in Kosovo and Metohija as well. In a show on B92, Tadic said that he had communicated well with Minister of Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic concerning elections in Kosovo, and that he voiced his stance on the need to hold elections in Kosovo in written form."The first principle is to hold elections everywhere on Serbian territory and this means the territory of Kosovo, and to prevent endangering Resolution 1244 and our relationship with UNMIK and KFOR as international institutions as a result of holding these elections, for this is of critical importance to the existence of the state of Serbia in Kosovo. This is the only legal basis that we are basing our negotiating position on as far as Kosovo is concerned," Tadic said. Commenting on a dispute with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Minister of Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic over a proposal for establishing a functional division between the Serbian and Albanian nations, Tadic said that this was not a good thing for Serbian diplomacy. "If someone tells me that the functional separation of the Serbian and Albanian nations is possible, and that this will not lead to a division on Kosovo, then this person has a problem with logic. How can you separate one people from another and not end up producing a division," he asked.

BELGRADE, Apr 1 (Tanjug) - Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac on Tuesday stated that the Serbian government is yet to decide on whether elections will be held in Serb-populated areas of Kosovo-Metohija (Kosmet) and in what way. "If someone believes that elections may be held by organizing polling stations in homes, it will not be the way the DS wants it, because it is not a democratic way," Sutanovac told a news conference. He also said that Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic carries out a major part of his activities in correlation with the office of Premier Kostunica instead of the government. According to Sutanovac, Samardzic has full control over a part of Kosmet and that is why it is logic that he should be fully responsible for what goes on there.

BELGRADE, April 2 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic said on Wednesday that the humanitarian aid from the Russian Federation that arrived in Belgrade today presents help in the material and the moral sense for the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. "Today is a big day for us, because major humanitarian assistance has arrived from the Russian state, which is welcome and very important for the existence and the survival of Serbs in Kosmet," Samardzic said, and thanked the representatives of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations and Civilian Defense, on whose instructions the aid was sent. The first shipment of 40 tons of food arrived today, and the next three deliveries will be on April 4, 8, and 10. They will comprise food, medicines, articles for hygiene, medical supplies, and equipment for hospitals and medical centers, Samardzic specified. This whole process was carried out extremely efficiently, because only two weeks following the first initiative by Russian Ambassador Alexander Aleyev, who ended his term of office in Belgrade in late March, the first part of the humanitarian aid for Serbia reached its destination, Samardzic said. The aid will head for Kosovo-Metohija as soon as the customs procedure is completed and it will be distributed to Serb families in Kosovo and Metohija in a day or two, the minister said. In the province, the local United Nations administration UNMIK is in charge of humanitarian aid, he said, pointing out that he does not expect any problems during the distribution of the aid, which should reach 8,300 families living in Serb enclaves in northern Kosovo. Charge d'Affaires of the Russian Embassy in Belgrade Alexei Sokolov said he is confident that the 140 tons of humanitarian aid, worth a total of 1.7 million dollars, will reach the Serb population in Kosovo and Metohija on time. This is just the first stage of assistance and Russia will continue helping Serbia, Sokolov said.

BELGRADE, April 1 (Tanjug) - The Serbian Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija on Tuesday called upon political parties to refrain from statements obstructing Serbia's state policy towars Kosovo-Metohija in the election campaign. "This will support the resolution of position of our citizens in Serbia's southern province," the Ministry said in a statement. The Ministry rejected accusations that Minister Slobodan Samardzic had met only with Demcoratic Party of Serbia coordinators during his latest visit to Kosovo-Metohija and stressed that such unfounded accusations undermined the single state policy towards Kosovo-Metohija. During all his visits to Kosovo-Metohija, Samardzic holds regular meetings with citizens and representatives of Serbian isntitutions and coordinators and heads of districts have the task to prepare and organise these meetings. During his latest visit to Kosovo-Metohija, Samardzic did not meet with any of the DSS coordinators. He visited the municipalities and settlements where coordinators and heads are from the Democratic Party, G17 Plus and New Serbia, the statement said. "Such irresponsible statements result in the spreading of additional uncertainty and disturbance among Kosovo Serbs and cause a political rift among them. They can also be interpreted as the deception of the public in Serbia," the statement said.

BELGRADE, Apr 2 (Tanjug) - Finance Minister Mirko Cvetkovic on Wednesday stated that, under the Serbian government decision, the employees of the Kosovo institutions who had resigned from their posts after the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo will be employed by corresponding institutions of Serbia. In an interview with RTV B92, Cvetkovic said that the government had adopted a conclusion, based on which those employees of the Kosovo institutions who resign after the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo will be employed by Serbia's corresponding organs. That should mean that those working at the customs service under UNMIK supervision should get transferred to the Serbian customs. According to him, the corresponding state organs will also employ those working at Kosovo-Metohija courts. Cvetkovic also said that he assumes that funds will be secured for that.

BELGRADE, April 2 (Tanjug) - Plane carrying Russian humanitarian aid of 40 tons of food and medicines the Russian government sent to Serbs and other non-Albanian population in Kosovo arrived at Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade early on Wednesday. The delivery includes 140 tons of food and medicines for Serb enclaves in Kosovo. Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic awaited the shipment on the behalf of the Serbian government. On the order of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense, the Russian Federation supplied Serbia with the first contingent of 40 tons of food and medicines. Russia will send another three shipments of humanitarian aid For the Serb enclaves in Kosovo.The total delivery will include 140 tons of food and medicines, worth around USD 1.7 million.

MOSCOW, April 2 (Tanjug) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Russia was obliged to protect the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija in the legal and economic field. We are obliged to protect the Serbs in Kosovo both on the legal and economic plan, Lavrov sad while addressing the deputies of the Russian Duma, the lower house of the Russian Federation parliament. The Russian foreign minister underlined that the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija had the right to express their will and say how they want to live and in what capacity. Lavrov also said that Russia had the intention of facilitating to the maximum the regime of traveling for the Serbian citizens to Russia.

MOSCOW, April 2 (Tanjug) - Russia will not allow Kosovo's full-fledged membership in the UN and it will not allow the possibility that the Kosovo issue be taken out of the sphere of the world organisation's influence, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said. We have done our best to ruin the plans for a speedy and large-scale recognition o Kosovo independence, Lavrov said in the Russian Duma. The Russian foreign minister assessed that the recognition of Kosovo independence represented punishment measures of the countries that were trying to assume the right to speak on the behalf of the entire international community.

MOSCOW, April 2 (Tanjug) - Russia will raise the issue of Kosovo and Metohija at the Russia-NATO summit that will be held in Bucharest on April 4, which will be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on Wednesday. In addressing the deputies of the Russian Duma (lower house of the parliament), Lavrov pointed out that Russia had always insisted on that that the international forces in Kosovo should be neutral and impartial and that they should act strictly within the frame of the mandate the United Nations had entrusted them with.

The unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence has fired up existing conflicts in other regions of the world, Russian Parliament Speaker Boris Gryzlov said on April 1. Gryzlov told journalists at the parliament that the situation with Kosovo's declaration of independence was not a unique one, and once again warned that it could become a precedent. "We see the conflict in Kosovo deepening, both territorially and ethnically," Gryzlov said, adding that the Helsinki Charter on the inviolability of borders had been violated, and that it was the "first precedent" of the sort. Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vitaly Churkin said on April 1 that there was still a possibility of finding common ground within the U.N. Security Council on the status of Kosovo. In an interview with the Russian newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Churkin said that, in Russia's opinion, the main task concerning Kosovo was to have the Security Council continue to thoroughly control the situation in the province and to ensure the full implementation of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 and UNMIK's mandate.

MOSCOW, Apr 2 (Tanjug) - Sergei Ryabkov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry Department for European Cooperation, has said in an interview with the Voice of Russia radio that Russia is against supplying Kosovo with arms and materiel. "No moves should be made that would contradict the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 to that degree," said Ryabkov, adding that "the already agreed norms and obligations are presently being seriously violated," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Wednesday. According to Ryabkov, "a sharp debate is expected," due to opposing views on the unilateral declaration of independence by the Province and its recognition by a group of NATO countries. Underscoring that the measures which NATO is taking in Kosovo, in keeping with UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan, are not legitimate, Ryabkov also said that reference to that plan means only multiplication of illegitimate activities that certain countries carry out in the Balkans. "The plan has no internationally recognized status!" underscored Ryabkov, adding that one side, that is Serbia, had rejected the plan and that it had never been confirmed by the UN Security Council, OSCE or another group structure, where all participants of the process would be equally presented. This has to cause regrets, he said, and Russia will continue to present its stand clearly, the Russian foreign ministry said.

PRISTINA, April 2 (Tanjug) - Spokesman for the European Union Mission for judiciary and police (EULEX) Victor Reuter said on Wednesday that five stages, to be realised in the course of 120 days, would be required for the setting up of the mission. There are 25 members of this mission in Kosovo right now, and the others will arrive in stages, Reuter said in an interview for the Pristina Albanian-language daily Zeri, adding that five phases would be required for the setting up of the mission and that all its members would arrive in the course of 120 days. French General Yves de Kermabon, former commander of the KFOR Multinational Brigade North that was seated in Kosovska Mitrovica, has been appointed as head of the mission. During his recent visit to Kosovo, Kermabon said that the mission would be deployed on the whole of Kosovo territory.

BELGRADE, April 2 (Tanjug) - Moscow-based NATO Center Director Tatyana Parkhalina has said that the international community has made a huge mistake in Kosovo, and expressed confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin will sharply criticize NATO at the summit in Bucharest, among other things because of Kosovo. In an interview for the Belgrade daily Politika published on Wednesday, Parkhalina said she is certain that the international community is making a huge mistake in the NATO policy. "I always tell my western counterparts that they must primarily think about democracy in Serbia, if they want democracy and stability in the Balkans. And yet they are doing the opposite, strengthening nationalists and conservatives," Parkhalina said. Even though there has lately been much talk about the possibility of a partition of Kosovo, Parkhalina believes that "the question of Kosovo has been definitely resolved, whether we like it or not."

BELGRADE, April 2 (Tanjug) - Syrian Ambassador to Serbia Majed Shadoud said in a statement for Tanjug on Wednesday that Syria believes, regarding the question of the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo and Metohija, that it is necessary to respect the United Nations (UN) Charter which guarantees the territorial integrity and sovereignty of every country, including Serbia. Damascus advocates the preservation of territorial integrity and sovereignty under any circumstances, and insists on non-interference in the internal affairs of all countries, the ambassador said. Shadoud did not comment on the failed attempt by certain states, at the recent summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Dakar, to secure that this Organization recognize the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo. It is the prevalent sentiment in the world that all UN resolutions should be honored, he pointed out. Such a stand is also backed by the positions of the Arab League and the OIC, of which Syria is a member, Ambassador Shadoud said, pointing out that no Arab country has recognized independent Kosovo. In that sense, these two organizations wish to preserve the security and stability of the international order, Shadoud said, underscoring that no state can be allowed to create chaos in the world.

PRAGUE, April 1 (Tanjug) - The Czech Christian Democratic Party, a member of the coalition government, on Tuesday reiterated its refusal to recognize "at this moment and under the current circumstances" the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and Metohija. The party's leadership decided that the issue of Serbia's southern province requires further debate, and that this is why its ministers will not back the proposal on the recognition of Kosovo if Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg presents it to the government on Wednesday. If the recognition of Kosovo is put before the government, our ministers will not support it, the Christian Democrats' first deputy president, Roman Linek, said after the leadership meeting. The Czech Christian Democrats believe that the recognition of Kosovo could, at this moment, create instability in the region. They also fear it could violate borders created following World War Two and worsen the good relations between the Czech Republic and Serbia, which have a tradition stemming from the former Yugoslavia, today's Czech press said. The Christian Democrats also believe that the recognition of Kosovo wold create a precedent which will cause a domino effect with other separatist movements - the Basques in southern France and northern Spain, the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq, the Hungarians in southern Slovakia or the Irish in northern Ireland.

PRISTINA, Apr 1 (Tanjug) - The joint technical committee for border demarcation between Serbia and Macedonia along the Kosovo section held Tuesday a preparatory meeting in Pristina, hosted by the International Civilian Office, ICO said in a press release. The Macedonian and Kosovo delegations, comprising five members each, discussed the committee's future activities. The following committee meeting will be held in Skopje in the upcoming days, the release says.

BELGRADE, April 2 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Tadic, has said that the future prime minister will be from DS, whom he will suggest, and that both party and non-party officials are in option. "Competition has to be broadened and a chance has to be given to young people," Tadic pointed out. Tadic assessed that " coalition Vojislav Kostunica and Vojislav Seselj, would, for sure, lead the country into isolation, since they would lessen our capacities for the defence of Kosovo and Metohija, as well as investments, and lead the country into disaster." Assessing that the campaign for the forthcoming elections had begun with "bad rethorics," he said he would make effort that it be "toned down," because such behaviour might affect the turnout of the citizens. Commenting on Serbia's European future, Tadic pointed out that it was of vital importance for the country and that "he who says differently is plotting against the people's lives and working against its interests." He reiterated that he would sign the SAA on EU admission at once, since Serbia had no alternative as far as its future was concerned.

Prime Minister Kostunica stated that Serbia cannot be divided and that the state cannot be subject to trading. Stating that Serbia needed a stateforming and ethnically responsible government, he called on the citizens to "support Serbia" on May 11. In his words, the job of the new government will be to continue the fight for Kosovo. "In this, we are encouraged by the fact that 150 countries of the world believe that Kosovo is Serbia," he said. He stressed that certain jobs have not been done because he "had disagreements" with former coalition partners, not only regarding the issue of Kosovo, but also regarding the economic development of Serbia, which is demonstrated by the fact that "they do not want the Horgos-Pozega motorway" and that they dispute the gas arrangement with Russia.

VELIKA PLANA, April 1 (Tanjug) - Minister of Economy and Regional Development Dinkic said in Velika Plana on Tuesday that it was incomprehensible why just one project, the Horgos-Pozega highwy, had been declared the national priority. "The Belgrade-Pozega road is important, but is not the biggest national priority. The top priority is the completion of Corridor 10 from Horgos to the Macedonian border and from Nis to Dimitrovgrad," Dinkic said. He added that the Belgrade-Pozega road and semi-highway towards Bor, eastern Serbia, Banat trunk road in Vojvodina and Kragujevac-Batocina highway had the same priority. "I think that just those who observe everything that should be done in Serbia as a whole can see the situation objectively. In other words, the Belgrade-Pozega highway will be built, but it is much more important for us to complete before that the international Corridor 10, i.e. the highway between Horgos and the Bulgarian and Macedonian borders," Dinkic said. He said that this could be done in parallel. "The issue of source of funds is secondary in this case and I'm sorry that some of my former colleagues have used the situation in which the concessionaire (for the Horgos-Pozega highway) has not closed the financial construction to politicalise the entire case. This is impermissible for me and people see it and people will decide who says and who does what at the elections," he said.

BELGRADE, Apr 1 (Tanjug) - Opening the 46th International Commercial Vehicle Show (OICA) on Tuesday, Minister of Trade and Services Predrag Bubalo said that traffic should be the backbone of our country's development, because Serbia is one of the main crossroads of land, river and air corridors of Europe. Traffic is an important loops in the export of our goods, and, on the other side, it is a source of income, new jobs, it generates investments and provides support to other industrial branches, said Bubalo. "Efficient transport is not possible without new roads and that is why I believe that our next government will be responsible and that it will be aware of the importance of the Horgos-Pozega highway and all other roads in the country," said Bubalo. He underscored the importance of the OICA fair, which has gathered 510 participants from all parts of the world, and which, beside the fairs in Hanover and Bern, is, according to the calendar of the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, the only of the kind. The fair will close on April 5.

BELGRADE, April 2 (Tanjug) - Minister of Trade and Services Predrag Bubalo told Tanjug on Wednesday that the energy agreement with Russia should be approved of, without fail, at the Thursday government session and then presented to the parliament, which might ratify it, since the matter was very urgent. "We all know and we are fully aware of the importance the gas arrangement has for Serbia. Since all necessary procedures have already been carried out in Russia, we think that there is no reason for us, at least not for those for whom such a gas arrangement is of vital importance, to wait any longer," he underlined. Commenting on the speculations of the media that it was possible that at the Thursday meeting, the ministers of the Democratic Party (DS) and G17 Plus demanded that the debate on the issue be postponed for until after the setting up of a new government and parliament, Bubalo said that he did not know what the problem was and qualified the whole thing as a "proof of harmful policy, because all were included in the debate when the agreement was signed in Moscow." "Even the president of the Republic went there," Bubalo reminded. Minister Bubalo expressed belief that the agreement would be adopted as a whole, because, as he put it, one had to bear in mind the importance the document had for the state of Serbia and how useful it would be for the country, and not focus on some other interests.

BELGRADE, Apr 2 (Tanjug) - The Russian government informed the Serbian government that it had done everything that is required for the energy agreement between Russia and Serbia to go into effect and that it expects Serbia to ratify the document in order to meet the contracted deadlines, Tanjug learned at the Serbian president's cabinet. Russian Minister of Industry and Energy Khristenko has sent a letter to the Serbian government saying that the Russian side had completed the necessary procedure in order for the agreement on gas and oil supplies to go into effect. Khristenko said that the Russian side expects the Serbian government and the People's Assembly to confirm, i.e. ratify, the agreement soon in order to avoid unnecessary delays in the realization of the agreement. The agenda of the Serbian government session called for Thursday includes a proposal to forward the energy-supply agreement to the parliament for ratification. Russia and Serbia signed the agreement on January 25 and it includes construction of a section of the gas pipeline in Serbia, selling off 51% of the shares of Serbia's oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije to Russia's Gazpromneft, and setting up of a joint-venture company to build the Juzni Potok section of the gas pipeline. Under the agreement, a joint company for the construction of the Juzni Potok section should be set up by May 25, the latest. Without a ratification of the agreement, the construction of the pipeline, which Serbia needs very much since it get its gas supplies from one direction only and that is from Russia via Ukraine and Hungary, will be uncertain.

BUCHAREST, April 2 (Tanjug) - State Secretary Dusan Spasojevic, who heads the Defense Ministry delegation, will participate in the Bucharest conference on Wednesday and Thursday, which takes place on the margins of the NATO summit. During the conference, State Secretary Spasojevic will hold a number of bilateral meetings at which he will express strong opposition to the unilateral proclamation of Kosovo's independence and to the violation of international law, and also discuss issues related to the political and security situation in the region. Heads of state and government and ministers of the Euro Atlantic countries will take part in the Bucharest conference. The main topics of the conference will be the NATO engagement in Afghanistan, the future role of the Alliance at the global level, the future of the anti-rocket defense and of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), as well as the situation in Kosovo-Metohija.

BELGRADE, Apr 1 (Tanjug) - The management board of the Transnafta public company has decided that Transnafta will take part in founding of and investing in a Pan European Oil Pipeline (PEOP) project development company, board President Miodrag Manic said Tuesday. The decision will be forwarded to the Serbian government for adoption at its session Thursday, he told the press. Companies from Romania and Croatia will have a share in the new company besides Transnafta, he said. A contract on founding the PEOP project development company is expected to be signed at the first next session of the PEOP Inter-State Committee after being coordinated and approved by the founding companies. The Committee is expected to convene from April 14 to 18 in Bucharest, Manic said. The project will include environmental and feasibility studies, a study on the pipeline route and capacity, and plans for finding future investors, he said. The project was approved last April in Zagreb by a ministerial declaration of the countries on the pipeline's route and the European Union. Transnafta was selected by the Serbian government to realize the project in Serbia.

BELGRADE, April 2 (Tanjug) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to invest between 220 and 260 million euros in Serbia in 2008, with which it will remain one of the most important creditors in this state, EBRD Director for Serbia Hildegard Gacek has announced. The EBRD plans to invest around 40 million euros from this sum into the financial sector in Serbia, Gacek said, specifying that these are new credit lines for domestic banks for small and medium-sized companies and for mortgage loans, investments in insurance companies and new additional capitalization of banks. In the latest issue of the magazine Bankar, Gacek pointed out that Serbia enjoys great support from the European Union (EU) regarding financial means, but also when technical support is concerned. Before investing in a country, foreign investors analyze the political stability and economic development, with the size of the market also being of importance, she said. Serbia, like the region itself, is a very interesting market for investors, because there are no language barriers in the Western Balkans and Serbian businessmen can easily do business in other Balkan countries as well, Gacek said.