Bulgaria’s Economy Minister Bozhidar Lukarski has discussed opportunities for boosting bilateral trade and economic cooperation with Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism, and Communications Rasim Ljajic and Serbian Economy Minister Zeljko Sertic.

Lukarski and Ljajic negotiated the signing of a memorandum on join exports to third countries and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the sphere of tourism.

The participation of Bulgarian companies in the privatization in Serbia was also discussed during the meeting, according to the press office of the Bulgarian government.

Lukarski and Ljajic were unanimous that Romania could be added to the trade agreement, as agreed in Craiova at the trilateral intergovernmental meeting in May.

Ljajic proposed negotiating an agreement spanning all spheres of trade and economic cooperation.

It was agreed that the document could be signed during the visit of Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister to Sofia in July, which could be accompanied by a Bulgarian-Serbian business forum.

Ljajic pointed out that there were good prospects for bilateral cooperation in the sphere of tourism.

He stressed that Bulgarian tourists accounted for the largest group of arrivals in Serbia in the first three months of 2014, adding that the increase was unprecedented for quite some time.

Ljajic claimed that tourist flow could increase through joint cross-border projects which could seek financing from EU funds and under the Danube Strategy.

He also argued that Bulgaria and Serbia could participate jointly in a number of tourism and trade expos.

Lukarski drew attention to the fact that there were a lot of joint ventures in Serbia and invited Serbia to participate in joint ventures in Bulgaria, adding that the companies could access EU funding.

Lukarski also expressed the interest of Bulgarian enterprises in the privatization in Serbia.

He also informed Serbia’s Economy Minister Zeljko Sertic of Bulgaria’s interest in the privatization of Serbian state-owned companies.

Sertic made clear that Serbia had a list of companies that could be privatized, the majority of them operating in the sphere of machine building, the processing industry, and services.

He informed that a total of 44 Serbian companies were ready to be privatized, while 17 others were under a special regime and would also be put up for sale at a later stage.

Sertic announced that Serbia was also preparing the privatization of 10 mineral baths.

Lukarski suggested that partnership between Bulgarian and Serbian private companies could only be beneficial for both sides, adding that the two countries could join efforts for exports to third countries and for their joint participation in expos.
Bulgaria’s Economy Minister emphasized that Bulgaria could apply for EU funding for projects of this kind.