21.02.2013.

PROFESSOR GLIGOROV:
BAD ECONOMIC SITUATION IN ALL THE BALKAN COUNTRIES

Association of Non-governmental Organisations of Southeast Europe – CIVIS organized a promotion of the book by Professor Vladimir Gligorov “Neoclassicism in the Balkans and Other Essays” on 20 February 2013 in the Belgrade Media Centre.

BELGRADE – Being a Researcher at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), Professor Vladimir Gligorov, assessed today that the Balkan countries led bad economic policies in the past 20 years and that among them there is almost no difference concerning disturbing indicators. “Before there were no difference in economic opportunities among the countries in the region, and now a bad situation has spread out to all economies which have similar characteristics”, Gligorov stated at the press conference.

He said that they primarily have an excessive reliance on foreign investments, high unemployment, low industrial production and, finally, distrust to their own currencies. “The Balkans generally has unsuccessful situation, where difficult social situation is in power, high unemployment for over a long period of time”, he thinks. Gligorov took Macedonia as an example, where unemployment rate exceeds 30% for over 20 years.

He stated that distrust in local currency and the Central Bank is present in all the countries which can be seen in citizens’ savings in euros, and the state borrowing, also foreign money.  Presenting his book in the Media Centre “Neoclassicism in the Balkans and Other Essays”, Gligorov said that neoclassical approach in the regional economy reduced to the states trying to attract many foreign investments, which haven’t gone to production but to spending, so real estate and products have not find their way to the world markets.

On the other hand, Central European countries implemented well that recipe in attracting foreign money by investing it in product industrialization. Transition in Central European countries increased trade volume, open economy and export, which is not the case with the Balkans, whose countries, from the point of view of the market behaviour, stayed very closed, Gligorov thinks. “The Balkan states have bad economic policies and all were more or less unsuccessful in the past 10 to 20 years and the example of this is transition”, concluded the Vienna expert.  

At the book promotion spoke H.E. Dr Johannes Eigner, Ambassador of the Republic of Austria in Serbia and Mr. Miroslav Prokopijević, President of the Free Market Centre.

SOURCE:
Photo TANJUG, Rade Prelić
UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION

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