Interview RICHARD ROBINSON
DIRECTOR OF THE BRITISH-SERBIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE How many companies with British capital operate in Serbia today? What is their structure and in which sectors do they operate?
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Brexit won’t change UK/Serbian trade and investment relations much. However, in some aspects that will be reformed in line with the new so-called continuity trade agreement between the UK and the EU, and there will be new opportunities for companies from both countries to exploit. The British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce will be there to help them - Richard Robinson The British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce recently saw a fresh restart of its activities. We spoke with Mr Richard Robinson, Director of the British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, to
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learn about the plans of the new leadership to boost all aspects of bilateral business, economic and commercial relations between the British and Serbian business communities.
We estimate that there are around 100 British companies operating in Serbia today, but no central records are kept. Many major UK companies do operate here, including G4S and AstraZeneca. More precisely, seven out of the ten largest companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange are present in Serbia, including GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever, BAT and Rio Tinto. Additionally, a range of smaller UK companies operate here: companies like Delamode, a UK-owned logistics company. Not surprisingly, these companies operate in different ways. Some companies have subsidiaries, others manufacture outside Serbia and sell to local wholesalers and operate through a representative office. Still more companies, such as Jaguar Land Rover, operate through British Motors, a local dealer. In other cases, UK private equity invests in Serbian companies. What is the current level of the trade exchange between the two countries?
The published trade figures of both the UK and Serbia show that bilateral trade in 2019 was around €460m (€180m in UK exports to Serbia, €280m in Serbian exports to the UK), plenty of room to grow! The largest UK export sectors to Serbia are pharmaceuticals, capital goods, including power generation, and intermediate electrical goods. The largest Serbian export sectors are intermediate electrical goods (once again), rubber goods, fruit and vegetables, non-ferrous metals and cars. Additionally, trade figures tend to underestimate the level of services provided between countries – particularly professional and financial services provided in the UK and also the tech industry in both countries. How has Brexit already changed, or is set to change, trade and investment relations between the UK and Serbia?
In many ways, I don’t think that Brexit will change
