“Serbia could get EUR 250mn from IPA”

Once Serbia becomes a candidate for European Union membership, it will receive EUR 250mn from the European IPA funds.

Economic analyst Goran Nikolić said that Serbia is currently using two installments from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) funds worth EUR 200mn, and that once it becomes a candidate for membership, it will be able to use five, which will be worth a total of EUR 450mn annually.

He added that this would also mean that cheaper loans could be obtained once country’s credit rating improves, and the crisis risk will decreases, which would have a positive effect on investors.

Nikolić said that loans “will be cheaper by at least one to two percentage points”.

This analyst added that it is important for the process to begin, stating that “it does not have to be fast, because some EU member-states waited months for the EU to send them the questionnaire after applying”.

Nikolić belives that Serbia will be able to count on the same amount of funds that Bulgaria received once it becomes a candidate for membership, which was close to EUR 1.2bn.