Since the beginning of 2011, 694 companies engaged in trade have been established in Serbia, and in the same period 2,274 trade companies were closed, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) stated Wednesday.

As it was stated at the constitutive session of the PKS Association of Trade Committee, the biggest problems that domestic trade is faced with are illiquidity and payment deadlines, large taxes, monopoly in distribution, as well as grey economy.

Secretary at the PKS Association of Trade Gordana Hasimbegovic pointed out that the real GDP growth rate in the second quarter of 2011 increased by 2.4 percent, noting, however, that the largest drop in GDP was marked precisely in the trade sector and equals 4.6 percent.

Hasimbegovic added that average salary in the trade sector from January to late August was RSD 28,143, which is considerably less than the country's average. In 2010, a total of 197,362 workers were employed in the trade sector. The commodities exchange in August 2011 compared to the same month in 2010 decreased by 9.4 percent in current prices, or 18.3 percent in constant prices.