Belgrade, 9, December 2015 – Ove Fredheim, Telenor Serbia CEO, was elected President of the Board of Directors of the Foreign Investors Council at the regular annual session of the Assembly held today. Fredheim was re-elected, after taking this position in April, when he succeeded the former President Frederic Coin.
Gabor Bekefi, CEO of Carlsberg Serbia Group, continues to hold the post of FIC Vice President elected as substitute to FIC President while Dimitrije Knjeginjić, Lafarge Serbia CEO, continues to hold the post of FIC Vice President elected as spokesperson of the Association.
Other members of the Board of Directors include: General Manager of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina at British American Tobacco Thanos Trimis, COO of Delhaize Serbia John Kyritsis, Ernst & Young Partner and Head of Tax Ivan Rakić, CEO of FCA Srbija Silvia Vernetti-Blina, Regional Director of Nestlé Adriatic Yana Mikhailova, PepsiCo West Balkans Commercial Director Michail Orfanoudakis, President of the Board of Directors of Societe Generale Bank Srbija Goran Pitić, and General Director/CEO of Siemens d.o.o. Beograd Udo Eichlinger.
Re-elected FIC President Ove Fredheim presented the team that will lead the Association in next two years and pointed out that FIC will continue to strongly advocate for harmonization of the laws with EU Acquis, acceleration of structural reforms and better implementation of laws. He added that, in light of the announcement that first negotiations on accession chapters will soon be opened,“the new FIC management will continue working together with EU Commission and Serbian Government to accelerate Serbia’s economic integration into EU and bring Serbian market closer to EU rules and practices”.
The Assembly meeting was also the opportunity to review past activities, as well as the statutory framework. FIC Assembly adopted the Annual and Financial Report for 2015, as well as changes of the Statute which enabled expansion of the FIC Board of Directors from 9 to 11 members and introduced norms which further strengthen work of FIC committees.
In 2015, FIC continued to expand its activities. Apart from the most renowned projects – White Book 2015, Reality Check Conference and visit to Brussels where FIC had a series of successful meetings with high representatives of the European Commission and European Parliament – FIC organized 9 roundtables and presentations, held 35 meetings with Government representatives, acted as a member of 7 Government working groups, participated in 17 public discussions, submitted 37 position papers on different regulations and engaged in around 40 media activities. Moreover, the FIC participated in almost 40 regulatory projects and responded to the requests of more than 200 stakeholders.
In order to secure smooth operation of the Association, whose activities have been on a constant rise in the past period with same trend anticipated for next years, the Assembly adopted the decision to slightly increase membership fees.
About FIC: FIC continues to expand, gathering more than 130 foreign companies who have invested over EUR 23.5 billion, contributed to 18% of GDP in 2013, and directly employ more than 97,000 people in Serbia, based on further growth and inflow of new members. The main goal of the association is to influence the improvement of business climate in Serbia by making concrete reform proposals and building a business portal for communication with the authorities in Serbia. FIC is also focusing on promoting solid business ethics and high corporate governance principles within the organization and towards local companies, the Government, and other external stakeholders. Through support and active engagement of membership, FIC has proven to be a strict guardian of the business community interests and at the same time a reliable partner to the Government of Serbia and other relevant stakeholders.