Drakulic: Serbia one of the poorest European countries

In an interview with the Beta news agency Drakulic explained that the country’s economic development is in the hands of foreign companies that “ruthlessly extract profits from Serbia, receiving large subsidies unfairly.”

“I am primarily referring to the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS), RTB Bor mining complex, infrastructure construction, industrial complexes, road construction, and even more so residential projects like the Belgrade Waterfront,” he said.

The Serbian businessman also said it is no surprise that Serbia is one of the poorest European countries, alongside Moldova, North Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the country's GDP growth rate has not exceeded five percent since 2000, which he blamed on “Serbia’s flawed economic policies.”

Drakulic, president of the Point Group holding company, warned that that Serbia’s economic growth hinges on enormous borrowing, inflated infrastructure project costs, and an abnormal increase in food and energy prices.

When asked to comment on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s claim that “things are going really well” in terms of economic growth, Drakulic said Serbia is indeed “excelling,” but at selling off domestic resources, and that what is really going very well is the colonization of the state, the destruction of agriculture and energy sectors due to catastrophic energy policies, and “the enrichment of a privileged group of businesspeople and a part of the political elite close to the government.”

When asked how realistic the claims by some economists are that the government is planning to turn Serbia into a mining colony, Drakulic said Rio Tinto’s Jadar lithium mining project should not be allowed to proceed.

“We are close to the point where Serbia could become a mining colony. The Jadar project must not go ahead, primarily for environmental reasons. Additionally, we have shown that the economic impact of this project would be disastrous for Serbia,” said Drakulic.