Reforme bez stezanja kaiša

Privredni izveštaj / Economic Report - RASIM LJAJIĆ
Ministar u Vladi Srbije / Minister in the Serbian Government

Kao ministar koji se bavio trgovinom – najavljuje skori dolazak Lidla i Ikee, kao predsednik SDPS-a – obećava socijalnu pravdu, a kao političar za koga će sigurno ponovo biti mesta u Vladi Srbije – ističe neophodnost reformi koje će, tvrdi, neko konačno sprovesti do kraja.

Od 2000. godine pričamo o reformama. One su započinjane, ali nijedna nije dovedena do kraja. Reforme počnu, a onda se prave kozmetičke promene i truli kompromisi jer, logično, one uvek nekog pogađaju. Ne možete da sprovedete reforme i da ljudi odmah osećaju boljitak. Obično se benefit promena oseća nakon dve, tri godine i zato niko ne želi da započinje reforme jer je očigledno da, u kratkom vremenskom roku, ima i negativnih efekata. Mi sada imamo šansu da zaista reforme dovedemo do kraja, ma koliko će nas to koštati za četiri godine. Siguran sam da će ljudi pozitivno reagovati na tako nešto jer će efekti biti vidljivi, videćemo svetlo na kraju tunela i otvoriće se perspektive. Sada je potrebno da vratimo nadu ljudima jer više ne veruju da ovde može biti bolje i vrlo su apatični. Mislim da može da bude bolje, ukoliko se svi trgnemo i ukoliko ispunimo obećanja do kraja.

Reforme su neophodne, pre svega, zbog ekonomije?

Do kraja godine moramo da uradimo nekoliko stvari, jedna od njih je donošenje 21 sistemskog zakona do kraja juna. Tu su, između ostalih, Zakon o radu, stečaju, privatizaciji, izgradnji i planiranju. Suština tih zakona je poboljšanje poslovnog ambijenta u zemlji – da bude primamljiv za strane ulagače. Kroz predizbornu kampanju se provlačila priča – šta će nama strani ulagači, mi imamo resurse i možemo sami da podignemo našu ekonomiju. Nemamo ih. Voleo bih da je tako ali nije. Nijedna ekonomija danas ne može sama. Ni mnogo veća tržišta ne mogu sama da opstanu. Morate da ispunjavate „pet k”, kako volim da kažem: kvalitet, kvantitet, kontinuitet, kontrolu i konkurentnost da bi se Vaš proizvod dobro plasirao na svetskom tržištu. Suština ovih reformi je da, sa jedne strane, iskoristimo svoju pamet i resurse i, sa druge, da privučemo strane investitore koji donose novu tehnologiju, kulturu rada, standarde...

Vaša stranka, Socijaldemokratska partija Srbije, zalaže se za socijalnu pravdu. Kako uklopiti neophodnost reformi sa brigom o ugroženim kategorijama stanovništva?

Mi kao partija težimo socijalnoj pravdi. I da nismo u krizi, da nije ovolika nezaposlenost i nizak standard, uvek bi bilo ljudi koji zavise od države. To su ljudi koji zbog svoje bolesti, starosti, invalidnosti ne mogu da brinu o sebi. U Srbiji ima 40.000 ljudi koji žive sami. To su staračka, samačka domaćinstva po napuštenim selima. Ko će da brine o njima ako ne društvo i država? Oko 200.000 ljudi iznad 65 godina nemaju nikakva primanja – nisu ostvarili pravo na penziju, iz nekih administrativnih razloga nemaju ni pravo na socijalnu pomoć. O njima država mora da brine. Tu su i osobe sa smetnjama u razvoju, invaliditetom... U konačnom zbiru, čak i da izađemo iz krize, uvek će biti oko dvesta, trista hiljada ljudi o kojima država mora da brine. Da ne govorimo o deci sa smetnjama u razvoju, o domovima za napuštene. Ima i penzionera koji imaju penzije od kojih ne mogu da žive – i njih društvo mora da pomaže. Moramo, konačno, da ponudimo reformu penzionog sistema, odnosno PIO fonda – na koji način on može manje da zavisi od budžeta a više od svojih prihoda, da utvrdimo kolika je imovina PIO fonda, kako da je stavimo u funkciju da prihoduje, a ne samo da čeka da se popune rupe iz budžeta. To su pitanja koja moramo da rešavamo. Ona nisu nimalo laka i zato se kao partija zalažemo za socijalnu pravdu – da država pomogne onimada za one koji ne mogu da ostvaremaju elementarne uslove za život.

(Nastavak teksta u štampanom izdanju)

Reforms Without Belt-Tightening

As a Minister of trade, he announces the imminent arrival of Lidl and Ikea, as the President of SDPS (Social Democratic Party of Serbia) he is promising social justice, and as a politician who will surely be part of the Serbian Government, he emphasizes the necessity of reforms which, as he claims, someone shall finally bring to an end.

We are constantly talking about the reforms since the year 2000. We have started them but they have never been finalized. The reforms start, then some cosmetic changes are made as well as some rotten compromises, because logically the reforms usually hit someone. You cannot just implement them at once and feel the progress immediately. Usually the benefit of such changes can be felt two or three years later, and nobody wants to go into that because obviously in the short terms you will have some negative effects as well. We have a chance now to undertake real reforms and bring them to an end, no matter how much it costs us after four years, but I am sure that people will react positively, because the effects will be visible, we will see the light at the end of the tunnel and perspective will open. What we need right now is to bring back hope to the people because they do not believe that things can be better and they are very apathetic. I think it could get better if we all wake up and really bring what we had promised to an end.

Reforms are indeed necessary, primarily because of the economy?

By the end of the year we will have to do several things and one of them is passing of 21 laws by the end of June, among others, the Labor Law, the Law on Bankruptcy, the Law on Privatization, the law on Planning and Constructions. The objective of these laws is to improve the business environment in the country, to make it become attractive for foreign investors. Throughout the election campaign we heard the same things - why do we need foreign investors, we have the resources to raise our economy by ourselves. Well, we don’t, I wish we do but we don’t. No economy today can stand alone. Not even markets bigger than ours can survive alone. You must meet five conditions, as I like to say. Quality, quantity, continuity, control and competitiveness to make your product competitive in the world’s market. The essence of these reforms is, on one hand, that we use our intelligence and resources, and on the other, to attract foreign investors who bring new technology, work culture, standards...

Your party, the Social Democratic Party of Serbia, advocates for social justice. How to harmonize, on the one hand the necessity of reforms, and on the other the need to take care of vulnerable groups?

As a party we strive to social justice. Even if we were not in crisis, if there was no such a large unemployment and low standard, there would always be people who depend on the state and what the state can offer. Those are people who, because of their illness, old age, disability, cannot take care of themselves. We have 40 000 people living in single-person households in Serbia. These are elderly, single-person households in abandoned villages. Who will take care of them if not the society, the state? We also have almost 200 000 people over 65 without any income. They are not entitled to a pension for some administrative reasons, and do not have the right to receive social aid. The state must look after them, too. You have people with disabilities, invalids... Finally, even if we get out of the crisis, there will always be some two hundred, three hundred thousand people that the government would have to take care of. Not to mention children with disabilities who are abandoned in nursing homes. If you have the pensioners who receive their pensions, but cannot live from them, the society must help them. Finally, we have to present the reform of the pension system, or to be more precise, the reform of a pension fund, to find a way to make it less dependent on budget and to have make it rely more on its own income, to determine its assets and the manner they will be managed, the manner it would create an income and not just wait to fill holes in the budget. These are the issues that we need to solve, it is not easy and that’s why we, as a party are advocating for social justice - for those who cannot obtain the basic requirements for life, to have the state be the one that do it for them.

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