USAID Serbia and Montenegro
Court Reform (Serbia): U.S. assistance helped increase independence and the professional skills of judges, magistrates and prosecutors; provided legal assistance to victims of war crimes and human rights abuses. | Local governments (Serbia): Through work with a wide geographic spread of municipalities, local governments are now more responsive: 30+ Citizen Assistance Centers, E-government in 80+ Municipalities. | Youth (Serbia): Junior Achievement in 90 schools in 2009. USAID supports efforts of the Ministry of Youth/Sports to better prepare youth for post-graduation work opportunities. | Agribusiness (Serbia): Serbian companies assisted made $16.7m in registered sales in 2008. Recent trade shows expected to bring over $17m in contracts. | Local Economic growth (Serbia): Municipalities in USAID’s Municipal Economic Growth Activity attracted over 800m Euro in investments and created over 11,000 jobs in two years by becoming more business friendly; 270 new businesses opened; 26 Local Economic Development offices set up to actively attract investments. | Commercial Courts (Serbia) have become more efficient and transparent with Case Management Systems in all 16 courts and the High Commercial Court. Case backlogs cut drastically. | Compete Project (Serbia): Helping to bring Serbian companies back into world market – leading directly to $20.5m in 2008 exports. Helping to introduce International Industry standards that allow companies to compete in the global marketplace. Attracted major film productions and millions in investments. | Support to companies (Serbia) in vulnerable areas increased their competitiveness. 2008 sales at trade/shows fairs for assisted companies up 42%. | Economic systems (Serbia): Helped introduce: VAT; private pensions; investment funds; sound insurance industry, bankruptcy and enforcement and modern payment systems. | Opportunity Bank (Serbia) loans created 5,000+ new jobs and ensured 40,000+ existing jobs were kept. Only lender for vulnerable people who have little access to credit. | Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (Serbia): Civil Society activities have brought together 14 major companies and an array of NGOs to establish culture of CSR. | Preparedness Planning (Serbia): USAID works with all levels of government to improve disaster risk reduction, trained 675 responders from 50 Municipalities on disaster management. | Civil Society Grants (Serbia): USAID assisted 160 Civil Society organizations with $5.2 million in 2.5yrs to better represent the needs of ordinary people & become more influential partners with businesses and government in the democratic process. | Media (Serbia): USAID media assistance has contributed to more independent, professional and financially viable media outlets and media associations. The regulatory environment now better supports the development of e-media; 2,000+ media professionals trained. |
    Search
    Search Tips
    USAID Film Part

    Opportunity Bank Serbia

    Opportunity Bank Serbia (previously Opportunity International Savings and Loans which converted into a bank in May 2006) provides banking services to entrepreneurs and clients with limited access to the banking system. Opportunity also works in rural areas to bring financial services to family farms as well as to viable Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME’s) with demonstrated growth potential. Opportunity Bank has branch offices throughout Serbia, including in the south, where there is a limited number of banking services available.

    Project components include:

    • Granting loans to entrepreneurs, small firms, refugees, agricultural producers and other business ventures unable to access traditional financing due to the lack of either credit guarantees or a credit history.
    • Granting loans to SMEs in support of their business needs and development, including start-up businesses.
    • Providing domestic and international payment transaction services to its business clients.
    • Offering Euro and Dinar deposit products to personal clients looking for good return on their savings.

      Key results to date:

      • Serving close to 6,000 clients, with an active portfolio of close to Euro 28 million.
      • Granted over Euro 70 million in loans to date.
      • Disbursed over 940 loans to refugees and IDPs.
      • Granted more than 1,100 start-up loans, with a total value of more than Euro 4.2 million.
      • Helped create over 6,000 new jobs and helped sustain over 45,000 jobs* thanks to loan products.
      • Total deposit balance is almost Euro 9 million in savings, on all client accounts which has reached almost 17.500 (Opportunity Savings Bank converted into a fully licensed universal bank in May 2007).
      • Excellent portfolio quality with annual write-offs of less than 1.5%.

        * Figures as of March 31, 2009

        Opportunity Bank, a member of the Opportunity International Network (www.opportunity.net) has implemented this project since 2001. For more information about Opportunity Bank please visit (www.obs.rs)