“Improvement of transparency, greater efficiency of the government organs’ work and better coordination of anti-corruption institutions are priorities of the Prevention and Fight againstCorruption Project implementation; the Project otherwise funded through EU IPA Program for Serbia”, Minister of Justice Nela Kuburović said at today’s opening of the Project at the Palace Serbia. She added that the Serbian Government had set itself an extremely important task: zero tolerance for corruption, which was one of the most important tasks a country could set for itself.

The Justice Minister noted that a new set of measures against corruption had been prepared and that those measures were contained in the adopted, modernised Amendments to the Criminal Code, the new Organisation and Jurisdiction of Government Authorities in Suppression of Organised Crime, Terrorism and Corruption Act and the Confiscation of Proceeds from Crime Act. She added that the preparation of new legislative solutions and measures would be finalised by the end of 2017/early 2018, so that all necessary conditions for an effective commencement of the reform as of 1 March 2018 could be created.

The Justice Minister then stressed that the main centre of the fight against organised crime, financial crime and corruption for the entire territory of Serbia was the Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime, which was why more efforts would be made towards that Office capacity building. She explained that the higher prosecutor’s offices in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kraljevo and Nis would be regional centres in which special departments for the charging of criminal offences with elements of corruption would be formed.

Kuburović noted that one of the priorities of the Serbian Government and the Justice Ministry was the passing of the New Anti-Corruption Agency Act, which she believed would be undergoing the Parliamentary procedure by the end of the year. “It is necessary to define more clearly the competencies of the Agency through new statutory provisions, as that would increase the efficiency of the Agency’s work, building its administrative capacities and improve its connection with various organs and organisations”, Kuburović stated.

At the opening of the Project – the beneficiaries of which would be the Ministry of Justice and the Republic Prosecutor’s Office -, the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi noted that fight against corruption would not only be an obligation for Serbia on its path to joining the EU, but also an important choice for its prosperity.

Deputy Republic Prosecutor Zorica Stojšić and the Anti-Corruption Agency Director Majda Kršikapa discussed the importance of fight against corruption and the Project which is to be implemented in the coming 30 months.

The video material can be downloaded from www.infobiro.tv for free.