Collection of Receivables and Transport Biggest Problems of Serbian Companies Caused by Events in Ukraine

The Chamber of Commerce of Serbia (CCIS) will take urgent measures to mitigate the consequences caused by the events in Ukraine which pertain to the collection of receivables and transport. Companies are advised to estimate the situation carefully when making decision on new deliveries of goods to the markets of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, it was pointed out at an extraordinary session of the Managing Board of the CCIS.

In the shortest amount of time possible, the CCIS will also prepare a concrete and real proposition of measures to help the most jeopardized companies, which it will forward to the Government of Serbia, they say on their official website.

The president of the CCIS, Marko Cadez, pointed out that the Chamber was constantly communicating with the economy, that solutions to the problems the companies face in the field and in terms of payments were being sought.

He reminded that the CCIS had immediately reacted to the crisis in Ukraine and formed, in the shortest amount of time possible, the Crisis Response team for monitoring the situation, as well as the Call Center – the only official point of communication with the economy. He invited business people and companies to share with the CCIS all the information pertaining to the operations with the countries affected by the crisis.

– We have established a very good communication and coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassies in Kiev and Bucharest. We are trying in every way to establish communication with the chambers of Russia and Ukraine, we are taking part in the coordination within Eurochambers, and we are especially constantly communicating with the chambers of Germany, Austria, as well as the Western Balkans, we are following the situation in the field and the measures of international institutions and the EU – Cadez said.

The analytical team of the CCIS, according to Cadez, is continuously following the trends in the international finance market, world markets, as well as the shifts in the prices of energy sources, precious metals and other raw materials, in order to provide quality information to business people.

The president of the Group for the Road Transport of Goods at the CCIS, Miroslav Nikolic, warned that the situation in the field was very complex and uncertain when it comes to the transport of goods to Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

– Transit through Poland is available, it’s possible to go through Belarus to the Russian market, the jams are big, there are long delays at the borders. There’s plenty of disinformation, the situation is changing by the hour, especially since the sanctions are implemented on a daily level – Nikolic, also the director of Srboeksport, pointed out.

Members of the Managing Board of the CCIS, presidents of the companies which operate the most with the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian markets, spoke about their problems with doing business, the biggest of which are the transport of goods, trucks stopped at the borders, the manner of payment through commercial banks and the drop of the ruble, as well as the uncertainty of operations in the upcoming period.

– We are in constant contact with the transporters and we are trying to solve the logistics problems of the drivers themselves, who are in Ukraine on border checkpoints toward Poland, Romania and Hungary. Our recommendation to companies is to be very careful when sending new goods to the markets of Russia and Belarus, considering the transportation difficulties. Also, it is important to solve the problem of the collection of receivables and the corresponding banks, and we hope that this crisis will be solved as soon as possible – said Mihailo Vesovic, the director of the Sector for Internationalization of the CCIS.

He pointed out that the CCIS would strive to help the companies whose operations are jeopardized in the markets of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to reorient to new markets.

Privredna komora Srbije

Ministarstvo spoljnih poslova Republike Srbije

CCIS

Managing Board of the CCIS

Group for the Road Transport of Goods

Sector for Internationalization

Srboeksport

Marko Čadež

Miroslav Nikolić

Mihailo Vesović

Kiev

Bucharest

urgent measures for mitigating the consequences caused by the events in Ukraine

collection of receivables

transport

Crisis Response Team

Call Center