CEVES Newsletter July 2026 Dear friends, associates, and colleagues, In our second CEVES newsletter this year, we comment on economic growth assumptions
CBAM — a mechanism by which the EU charges for the carbon footprint of imported goods — has been in effect since the beginning of 2026. The EU is late and
The Fiscal Strategy expects GDP growth to accelerate from 2.0% in 2025 to 3.0% in 2026, and then to significantly
Protests were certainly not the main culprit for the slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter of this year, but they exposed the fact that it has been standing on increasingly weaker foundations in recent years.
We share with you the newsletter for the first quarter of 2025 – which, in addition to a brief overview of the most important economic trends in Serbia and the EU, also includes our reflections on the key challenges shaping the economic and political climate, as well as CEVES's activities during this period.
It is time for Serbia's economy to stop being a „timid beast,“ as Forbes rightly assessed it in its article on Friday. By „economy,“ we mean those who are not part of the regime's clientele.
At the end of the current year, we share with you the New Year's newsletter – which, along with congratulations, hopes, and good wishes, also contains a quick overview of the economic situation and expectations in Serbia and the European Union, as well as a concise summary of CEVES's key activities and partnerships in 2024 with a look ahead. We also take this opportunity to express our strong support for students and citizens who, through protests, demand that institutions start doing their job – honestly.
The proposed high level of public investment does not guarantee their quality – neither in terms of executed works nor contributions to GDP growth and improvement of the quality of life, Nemanja Šormaz tells Danas.
A conference was held today at the Science and Technology Park Čačak MSP100 EXPO 2024: New growth agenda for SMEs which brought together the most successful Serbian small and medium-sized enterprises and other actors from the SME ecosystem. This event, held for the third consecutive year, is dedicated to promoting the importance of the Serbian small and medium-sized enterprise sector. Along with discussions on strategic development challenges and recommendations that would lead to even faster SME development, the focus of this year's MSP100 EXPO was on directing key actors towards the realization of more intensive and efficient development support for the SME sector.
In an interview for Biznis magazine, Pavle Medić answers where one should start to „fix“ the Serbian market when it comes to retail of groceries and basic household products. Medić says that the ratio of food prices to average wages in Serbia, along with Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, is by far the most unfavorable in Europe.
Organized by the Center for High Economic Studies (CEVES) and USAID's Project for Large Small Businesses, and with the support of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia,
ALL ROADS LEAD TO MSP Economic growth in Serbia in 2023 is estimated at 2.5%, while in 2024.
The European Commission prepared the New Growth Plan for the Western Balkans in November 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the Plan), which should
Germany is a key destination for Serbian small and medium-sized enterprises, and based on this cooperation, the Serbian „Mittelstand" is gradually being built.
In order for the significant investments that Serbia is making these days to be sustainable (both in terms of the longevity of desirable effects and in the context of environmental protection) and to benefit all citizens of Serbia, encourage them to stay and invest here, “pull” those who are not “politically connected” or are even neglected and lagging behind — a Development Plan is necessary.
If it were enabled for the tax credit to amount to 50% of the investment, it would cost the state 300 to 400 million euros annually. That is not a small amount of money, but the effect would be a 40% growth in private investments in the medium term of 5 years.
„The main obstacles to export growth in the SME sector lie in underinvestment and labor shortages, and the key problem is the investment environment,“ says CEVES Director Nemanja Šormaz in an interview with Biznis.rs.
The essence of the message we want to convey at our MSP100 EXPO event is that small and medium-sized enterprises develop best if people develop, and people develop with the development of SMEs if the education system works for them, not for providing jobs to people with outdated profiles.
The SME sector, as well as its champions, do not enjoy a sufficiently stimulating and equitable business environment in their home country.
The total index score of 40.1 (out of 100 points) indicates that SMEs are at a lower-middle level of development, which corresponds to Serbia's level of development compared to EU countries.
