One of the most active socialists in the election campaign is the president of Srbijagas Dusan Bajatovic.
After being the most energetic in the expulsion of Branko Ružić from the party, is now using every opportunity to attack the way in which the regime of Aleksandar Vučić, in which his Socialist Party of Serbia participates wholeheartedly, leads the country in terms of economy.
First, he participated in a TV debate on N1, in which he said that he might just be a “stupid businessman”, but that he would immediately borrow another 10 to 12 billion and direct them to a “new phase of development”.
then he pompously “admitted” that there are “oligopolies” in Serbia in the banking and trade and even in the IT sector, adding that he meant “Telecom”.
Economic policy must change
Now it’s Bajatović, Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in Vojvodina, said that the existing way of running the economy in the country must be changed.
“This economic model is exhausted and will only last until the Expo is over, and after that we have to go for reindustrialization,” he said at the SPS rally.
This means, he explained, that there will no longer be cheap labor.
“I support what we did together, we are accomplices here, I am not running away from the fact that the SPS participated in it. But, that economic model will end with the end of the Expo and by then we need to prepare a new phase, where most of the income will not be on the consumption side. That is why we need additional money,” said Bajatović.
About oligopolists, but nothing about monopolists
Bajatović, therefore, admitted that there are oligopolies in Serbia, a small number of dominant companies that control the largest part of the offer of a certain product or service on the market.
“Is there an anti-monopoly commission in this country? What is Serbia’s problem? Oligopolies in the banking system, oligopolies in the trade systems. You have them even in the IT sector, I mean, this Telekom and these things. These are our problems. How is it created? Let’s explain what an oligopoly is. The two, three, four largest trade chains make an agreement, they dictate the prices, and now they are threatening to sue the state for wanting to help the people, isn’t that right,” Bajatović said.
However, at no time did he talk about the monopoly that Srbijagas, the company he leads, has.
Srbijagas occupies a leading and dominant position, often characterized as a monopoly, on the Serbian natural gas market, where it performs trade, supply, storage and distribution of gas through the gas pipeline network.
Although through legal reforms in the energy sector there were steps towards market opening and introduction of competition, Srbijagas maintained a vertically integrated and dominant role.
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