Belgrade, 31. 12. 2009.

SERBIA

• TADIC WISHES HAPPY NEW YEAR TO SERBIAN CITIZENS
• CVETKOVIC SAYS GOVERNMENT ACHIEVED KEY GOALS IN 2009.
• DACIC SAYS STATE DETERMINED TO ARREST MLADIC, HADZIC
• GENERAL DIKOVIC: SITUATION IN GROUND SAFETY ZONE STABLE

• STATISTICS BUREAU: SERBIA'S GDP DOWN 2.9 PERCENT IN 2009.
• SERBIA'S TRADE DEFICIT EUR4.7 BILLION IN 11 MONTHS
• INFLATION IN SERBIA THIS YEAR 10.1 PERCENT
• SERBIAN INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT FALLS IN NOVEMBER
• IMPORT DUTY ON CARS 7.5 PERCENT FROM JANUARY 1

• TADIC EXPECTS POSITIVE ANSWER TO KOSOVO VISIT REQUEST
• DACIC BRANDS MESIC MOVE AS PUBLICITY STUNT, PROVOCATION.
• DJUKANOVIC SAYS KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE CANNOT BE UNDONE
• GREEK OFFICIAL VISITS TROOPS IN KOSOVO

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic wished Wednesday a Happy New Year to citizens of Serbia, wishing it to be better than 2009, which he qualified as tough in both political and economic sense.

Addressing the citizens, Tadic said that 2010 is not going to be an easy year and that Serbia will face difficulties, but added that he expects it to be the year of a certain economic growth. He viewed as the most important thing the fact that in 2009 economic potential of Serbia was not aggravated, stressing that the country's economic capacities are preserved. Tadic mentioned the Fiat's investment as important news for the end of this year, saying that it will provide export increase in 2011 and introduce new foreign investments into Serbian economy.

The president evaluated that in 2009 significant results were achieved in the field of European integration, and underscored that the plan is for Serbia to get the official status as a EU candidate by the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011, and to begin the negotiations on the membership soon after that. He reiterated that the Serbian authorities are committed to completing cooperation with the ICTY, pointing out that The Hague indictees will be arrested as soon as they are tracked down.

Speaking of the problem of organized crime and corruption, Tadic assessed that Serbia is nowadays one of the regional champions in the fight against organized crime. The president reiterated that he will continue to fight against Kosovo-Metohija's independence. "I will keep fighting against the independence of Kosovo. This is not only my constitutional obligation, but is based on my deep belief that stability in the region as a whole will be secured," the Serbian president concluded.

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Beta) - Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said on Dec. 30 that his government achieved its key goals in 2009, whereas 2010 will be easier on the citizens and more difficult for the government. Speaking at a year-end news conference, Cvetkovic said that the government will aim to ensure economic growth and attract investment after the end of the economic crisis, by means of a crafty economic policy.

According to the prime minister, the government's 2009 success list includes economic stability during the peak of the global crisis, the implementation of a responsible social policy aimed at protecting citizens' standard of living and significant achievements in EU integration.

"The Interim Trade Agreement was unfrozen, after 20 years Serbian citizens can travel to Schengen states freely and the country has applied for EU membership," Cvetkovic said, describing the latter as a historic moment, because by applying for EU membership Serbia has set its future political course. He recalled that the Kosovo issue is being debated before the Hague-based International Court of Justice, adding that the process of recognizing Kosovo's independence has been halted and that in 2009 the government worked on improving quality of life in the province.

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Beta) - Interior Minister Ivica Dacic on Dec. 30 said the state is determined to arrest the remaining two fugitives sought by the Hague tribunal, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, because the entire country is being blackmailed over the two of them.

"The police are doing their part and we have done everything that was demanded regarding the search and arrest. All that information, unfortunately, was false, hence no arrests were made. The security services are playing the main part in the matter, while the police are reacting to order from prosecutors and the security services," Dacic told a news conference.

Police Director Milorad Veljovic said there is a special police division handling the search for fugitive members of the so-called Zemun gang and other special searches, adding that he hopes the search results in 2010 "will be good" and that some fugitives will be arrested.

NIS, Dec 30 (Tanjug) - Serbian Army Commander-in-Chief, General Ljubisa Dikovic, said in Nis on Wednesday that the situation in the Ground Safety Zone (GSZ) was stable, adding that there have been no attacks on the troops stationed there during 2009.

One of the most important tasks of the Army is to secure the administrative line and control the GSZ, said Dikovic during the New Year reception for the members of the Army, retired generals and officers, city of Nis representatives and reporters. Dikovic remarked that the new base called Jug, near Bujanovac, had provided good accommodation and operating conditions for the members of the Army.

Dikovic stated that the professionalization of the Armed Forces began in 2009, adding that 1,500 professional soldiers were hired, with 200 women among them. "There has been great interest in professional military careers, which shows that the Armed Forces are a serious employer," Dikovic said, adding that the process will be intensified in 2010. Aside from training, which received the most attention, the Army also worked on developing international civilian-military cooperation, and it achieved some significant results in that field, Dikovic noted.

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Beta) - According to the Statistics Office, Serbia's GDP fell 2.9 percent in 2009, Statistics Office director Dragan Vukmirovic stated on Dec. 30.Speaking at a news conference in Belgrade, he said that growth was registered in transportation, financial services, agriculture and in the public sector, while all other sectors suffered setbacks.

Vukmirovic said that, according to estimates, this year's industrial output will be 12.6 percent lower than in 2008. Processing industries contributed the most to growth, while minimal growth was registered in the production of electricity, gas, and water. "It is estimated that agricultural production registered a year-on-year increase of 2.5 percent in 2009," he said. According to estimates of the Office, the construction industry experienced a drop of 19.9 percent in 2009.

The drop in retail trade added up to 11.7 percent, while the drop in wholesale was 4.1 percent. In the hospitality industry, Vukmirovic said, negative growth is forecast at 10.2 percent, and in transportation 14.9 percent. The telecommunications sector continued to grow in 2009, with a 28.5percent expansion.

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Beta) - Serbia's trade deficit in the first 11 months of this year added up to EUR4.7billion, 36.4 percent less than in the same period last year, the Statistics Office said on Dec. 30.From January to December, Serbia's exports were worth EUR5.4 BILLION, 20.9 percent less than in the same period of 2008, while imports fell by 28.9 percent to 10.1 billion, Statistics Office head Dragan Vukmirovic told a news conference.

The export to import ratio was 53.8 percent, up from 48.2 percent in2008.Overall trade from January to November added up to EUR15.6 billion, a year-on-year drop of 26.3 percent. According to the Statistics Bureau, both exports and imports are continuing to fall. This trend started at the end of the previous year because of the world economic crisis, which has led to a decline in business activities.

The drop of Serbia's exports is a consequence of a significant reduction in prices of capital goods on the world market, which account for large portion of Serbian exports. Conversely, imports fell because of lower industrial production and domestic consumption. Most of Serbia's imports came from Germany and Russia, which exportedUS$1.8 billion each to Serbia. Italy was third with US$1.4 billion in exports to Serbia.

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Beta) - The 2009 inflation rate will be 10.1 percent, the Statistics Office announced on Dec. 30.Office director Dragan Vukmirovic told reporters that in December inflation was 0.1 percent, while retail prices were 10.4 percent higher than in December 2008.In December, prices of goods remained the same, while prices of services grew by 0.2 percent, he said.

Vukmirovic added that the National Bank of Serbia's inflation estimates are based on the consumer price index, which measures inflation according to the EU methodology, while the figures published by the Statistics Bureau on Dec. 30 were about the growth of retail prices. He stressed that measuring the rise in the cost of living is closer to the consumer price index.

According to the Statistics Bureau, prices of agricultural products grew in December by 0.9 percent due to a seasonal increase in prices of fruit and vegetables. Prices of fish fell, while those of eggsincreased. The cost of living in Serbia in December was 0.1 percent lower than in November. In 2009, the cost of living grew by 8.6 percent compared with 2008, while in December 2009; it was 6.6 percent higher than in the same month of last year.

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Beta) - Industrial production suffered a year-on-year reduction of 4.2 percent, while also clocking in at 2.8 percent less than last year's average, the Statistics Office stated on Dec. 30.In the 11 months of 2009, industrial production was 13.1 percent lower than in the same period of 2008, the director of the office, Dragan Vukmirovic, stated at a news conference.

Observed by sector, the biggest year-on-year drop was in ore and rock mining: 9.4 percent. In processing industries, production was down 5.4 percent year-on-year, while the production and distribution of electricity, natural gas and water retreated 4.2 percent.

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Tanjug) - In line with the law on ratifying the Interim Trade Agreement with the EU, the import duty rates on cars imported from EU countries will be 7.5 percent instead of the current 10 percent starting January 1, 2010.

According to the law, cars belong in the group of highly sensitive goods, which means that the import duty rates are supposed to drop to 7.5 percent starting January 1, 2010, to five percent at the beginning of 2011 and 2.5 percent at the beginning of 2012, while January 1, 2013 should see the total abolishment of import duty on cars.

A total of some 40,000 vehicles were sold in Serbia in 2009, which is a 30 percent reduction compared to 2008.Under the Interim Trade Agreement, signed in April 2008, and unilaterally implemented by Serbia since January 30, 2009, import duty rates for EU goods will be reduced over the next three, five or six years depending on the group of goods. The goods are categorized as sensitive, highly sensitive, the most sensitive and insensitive.

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Beta) - President Boris Tadic said on Dec. 30 that he expects international institutions to respond positively to his request to visit Kosovo and Metohija. "We cannot have a stable region if we cannot travel and move about freely. So I believe international institutions will react positively to my request," Tadic told reporters in Belgrade.

He went on to say that Serbia respects the Kumanovo Military-Technical Agreement and U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244."They allow the Serbian president to visit Kosovo and Metohija. And not only those invited by the president of the so-called state of Kosovo to visit our southern province for political reasons, but the president of Serbia as well," Tadic said.

He also said he is satisfied with the position of Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu, "who said that I cannot be invited to any meeting, because I am staunchly and completely opposed to the independence of Kosovo and Metohija and it is clear that I will continue to fight against it."

Answering citizens' questions on Serbian state TV in the evening on Dec. 29, Tadic announced his plan to visit Kosovo over the next several days.

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Beta) - Interior Minister Ivica Dacic on Dec. 30 described the making of Croatia’s outgoing President Stjepan Mesic an honorary citizen of Pristina as a publicity stunt by Mesic and direct interference in Serbia's internal affairs.

"Those who do such things are provoking Serbia and do not desire good ties with Belgrade," Dacic told the media. He went on to say "Serbia has suffered and continues to do so for the sake of the higher good of establishing good relations with countries in the region, even with those that have acknowledged Kosovo. Constant provocation of Serbia will not get us anywhere.

"In recent weeks, according to Dacic, "there have been several moves that are not in line with the declared goal of developing good relations in the region. This is direct interference in Serbia's internal affairs and such actions cannot contribute to establishing fair ties and overcoming the problems of the past," Dacic noted, adding he hopes that the next Croatian president "will be more willing to develop good ties with Serbia."

On Dec. 29, Mesic was made an honorary citizen of Pristina. He will receive the accolade during his official visit to Kosovo on Jan. 8.

PODGORICA, Dec 30 (Beta) - Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said on Dec. 30 that Kosovo’s independence can not be undone. "We see no chance of undoing that result," Djukanovic said on Podgorica-based TV Atlas. The prime minister also said "time is only being wasted" in attempts to abolish the independence of Kosovo.

"That is why it is more rational, however painful that may be, to cut our losses and turn to what is an opportunity. And that opportunity is a future in Europe," Djukanovic said. He added that the loss of Kosovo was "the defeat of the policy that had been pursued there for decades."

According to Djukanovic, Serbia's interests should be respected, "but at the same time it is important to have in mind that respect alone does not contribute to regional stability."

PRISTINA, Dec 30 (Tanjug) - Assistant Defence Minister of Greece Panos Beglitis visited the Greek troops stationed in Kosovo on Wednesday. Greece is actively present in international peacekeeping operations due to its obligations towards the international community and its allies, but first and foremost, because it wishes to defend its national interests in the region, which suffered greatly in the recent past, Beglitis told the troops.

Beglitis, who was accompanied by Chief of Hellenic Army General Staff Fragkoulis Fragkos, stressed that Greece's aim was to continue participating in international peacekeeping missions, because the government felt that the best way to protect the national interests was to help maintain peace and stability, especially in the regions that were geostrategically vulnerable, like the Western Balkans.