“The perfect storm in business through the prism of global risks” was the topic of a panel discussion held on May 19, 2022 at the Metropol Hotel, jointly organized by the Business Intelligence Institute, TPA Serbia, Joint Law Office Marić in cooperation with Kinstellar and Summer & Co. Shipping.
The oxymoron “Perfect Storm” means any event in which the situation is drastically complicated by an extremely rare set of circumstances. Rising raw material prices, the consequences of the pandemic, green transformation and global conflicts are topics that are on the agenda of all companies. The complexity of the current situation is reflected in its implications, including investments, companies, geopolitics, local politics and employment.
How did the price of the transport service reflect on the business of domestic companies and foreign investors during and after the pandemic, what are the forecasts and how much do the conflicts in Ukraine affect the business of companies? What is the trend of domestic investments? Do state incentives discriminate domestic investments in relation to foreign ones? What are the expectations of the level of domestic and FDI in 2023, compared to previous years? Trade with Russia and Ukraine is still possible, but difficult. How does it affect the economy, exports and imports? Due to the current situation, many businesses are moving to Serbia, where are our chances? What are currently the biggest concerns of local economy, legal restrictions and what are the solutions?
The panelists also talked about the security of energy supply and their prices, regulatory issues, the green transition, but also the reduction of energy costs in the economy through the acquisition of prosumer status.
Outstanding guests spoke about all this and many other topics that opened up during the panel: Maja Suđicki, CEO of Samer & Co. Shipping, Bojan Žepinić, Managing Partner, TPA Serbia and Branislav Marić, Managing Partner from the Joint Law Office Marić in cooperation with Kinstellar. Mr. Milan Ćulibrk, Editor-in-Chief of NIN magazine, as moderator, completed the dynamics and the flow of the panel.
The conclusion of the panel could be that, the state still has to work on accelerated digitalization, reduction of administration in order to make it easier for companies to adapt to legal changes in business. Of course, the rule of law and the improvement of the work of institutions continue to be a brake on accelerated development. In terms of transport, given that Europe mostly uses rail as the optimal type of transport, it would be desirable to make the most of this opportunity, after the completion of the renovation of existing and construction of new railway infrastructure and use locally innovative solutions such as smaller electric delivery vehicles.
Given current economic developments in Europe, inflation, declining foreign exchange reserves and increasing borrowing costs, it is very difficult to make clear forecasts. We need to meet the challenges and be careful and rational in our decisions, and to believe that in the coming years we will be able to talk again about new record of the domestic and foreign direct investments, stability and predictability of market trends.