Vučić presents agreement with Al Rawafed

Vučić presents agreement with Al Rawafed

BELGRADE -- Aleksandar Vučić has presented to the public the joint venture agreement between Serbia and the UAE company Al Rawafed concerning an investment in agriculture.

The entire EUR 140.5 million investment will come from the UAE, while Serbia has no such obligation, but still retains 20 percent of ownership in the joint venture company, the prime minister stated.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, he first showed earlier sale contracts for the companies Bačka Sivac, Jadran, Agrobačka and Mladi Borac.

The government from 2006 sold Bačka Sivac for EUR 14 million to Mile Jerković, who has been mentioned in the trial against the drug lord Darko Šarić, Vučić said.

According to the contract, signed in 2006, Serbia sold Jerković 4,700 ha of land for EUR 14 million, where he had to pay the sum in 6 equal installments and invest another EUR 131,000.

However, his only investment was to buy a tractor from himself, that his from his daughter's company, Vučić explained.

An inspection in 2009 determined that the sale contract had been breached and that only two installments of EUR 4 million in total had been paid, the prime minister said.

In the meantime, Jerković took out EUR 2.4 million in loans in Bačka Sivac's name, even though he had no right to do so.

"A total of EUR 4.4 million in interest-free loans have never been returned," Vučić stated, adding that Jerković had also failed to pay taxes.

The joint venture company established with Al Rawafed will have around 10,000 ha at its disposal and will do nothing without government approval, he noted.

The new company will buy...