Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic said yesterday that the "Blic Entrepreneur" campaign is socially responsible since it promotes successful entrepreneurs in Serbia and thus encourages all SMEs to look up to them.

Speaking about the campaign at a press conference, Dinkic recalled that this year the relevant Ministry granted €1.5 billion in subsidised loans to businesses and citizens.

A quarter of these funds were placed through Banca Intesa, which means that the largest portion was used to finance SMEs, the Minister explained.

He noted that this year, just like the previous one, was difficult and the crisis hit SMEs as well, although they are ordinarily more flexible than large companies.

Dinkic affirmed that he sent a proposal to the Ministry of Finance to legally limit the amount of local tax encumbering SMEs, since local self-governments have received an increased transfer of funds from the state budget.

That way, SMEs will be freed from certain local tax and will be able to make more profit, the Minister explained, adding that a Bill on local tax will be adopted along with the budget for 2011.

Dinkic stressed that his Ministry is attempting to help SMEs by allowing them equal access to state institutions throughout Serbia’s territory.

Furthermore, the guillotine of regulations should be soon concluded, the Minister recalled, adding that the SME sector employs one million people.

Blic editor-in-chief Veselin Simonovic underlined that the goal of the campaign is to promote entrepreneurship, noting that around 300 entrepreneurs have been presented over the last four years as part of the campaign.

Director of the Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) and jury president Bozidar Laganin noted that the basic criteria for electing the best entrepreneur are profitability, productivity and company liquidity in 2010.

We will also assess the company’s export potential, the number of employees and newly-employed, assortment of new products, technological innovation, environmental protection and contribution to the development of the local community, Laganin specified.

Deputy President of the Banca Intesa Executive Board Giancarlo Miranda outlined that the bank believes in SME development, which is why it invested €920 million in this sector in the first nine months of 2001, of which €290 million were subsidised loans within the government programme for the preservation of financial stability.

Once the competition is over, we will have elected ten most successful entrepreneurs. The best one among them will be awarded €30,000 which they can use to improve their business.

The campaign was established by the Blic daily and Banca Intesa in 2007 in order to promote entrepreneurship as one of the chances for development and a positive factor initiating economic flow.