card business in serbia in the course of the last four years are really imposing as is proved by the following : • number of cards issued has reached 5. 6 million and was increased by as much as 2. 2 million in the course of the last four years alone ; • half of the above number of issued cards are dinacards ; • almost 70 million transactions in serbia were performed via payment cards in the course of the last 12 months, of which 6. 5 million in may alone ; • there are over 50, 000 pos terminals, and • almost 1800 atms in serbia today. the time has come for us to make another step – a step towards improving the quality of payment cards business in serbia. this step shall certainly take place in the course of this year by way of improving quality of service and increasing the number of options on offer, like payment via mobile telephone or on - line, which has recently been enabled through the dinacard system. one of the major issues thrust upon us by the standards achieved so far in respect of card business in serbia, are the costs of payment system and the so called trade fees. in view of the fact that the level of guaranteed fee, interchange rate, to be retained by the card issuer in international card systems is disproportional to the level of fees in the eu member countries and that the gap will only widen further after a new set of rates is becomes applicable from 1 january 2008, the nbs has, following into the footsteps of the european central bank, decided to actively engage in improving efficiency of card payments and the resulting relationship between banks and trades people. i wish to inform you of the steps we intend to take to remove this anomaly, such as : • introduce a system of interchange rates from 2 september 2007 instead of applying fixed trade fees, that is a system in which banks and trades people will be free to regulate their mutual relations on their own. • make a comprehensive analysis of costs of payment systems as well as relations between banks and trades people in the course of next three months so as to be able to make an informed conclusion on the optimum level of interchange rate to be applied on the use of cards issued in serbia. on this occasion, however, the nbs invites banks to reach an agreement among themselves in the near future as to the applicable level of interchange rate that would provide for a more efficient payments system and to attempt to substitute nbs regulations by introducing self - regulating measures in this area. the

jorgovanka tabakovic : taking knowledge to a higher level in serbia speech by dr jorgovanka tabakovic, governor of the national bank of serbia, on the occasion of signing of the memorandum of cooperation between the national bank of serbia and the faculty of economics in belgrade, belgrade, 27 january 2016. * * * dear colleagues, esteemed mr. boricic, esteemed members of the press, allow me at the beginning to answer four simple questions. why is this memorandum signed today by mr. boricic, as the dean of the faculty of economics, and myself, as the governor? because, by definition, it is the top manager's task to be in command of the future, finance and human resources. this is and has been the responsibility of the head of an institution. why are we signing this memorandum today, three and a half years into my term in office? because all informal channels, personalities, letters of reference have so far turned out to be an insufficient guarantee that we would get the best people. yes, some came and have stayed, but there are also many who came and left. many of those for whom the nbs was just a stepping stone, a training ground, and, in the worst - case scenario for this country, a reference for a future elsewhere, outside serbia. after signing this memorandum, we will have a chance to select “ the best of the best ” and ensure they stay with the national bank of serbia. how did the memorandum come about? it was at the initiative of the young people from the faculty of economics who are here with us today. they knocked on our doors introducing themselves as the team for serbia. the team. and for me, this was the key word. because, the solution lies not in genius individuals, but in the genius of a team of individuals. a team with a leader – yes, a team at the top – no, and this is why we are here today and why we are signing this memorandum. this meeting is motivated by the basic needs of men : to learn, to progress and to create. and why do we need each other – the faculty of economics in belgrade and the national bank of serbia? because there is no alternative to knowledge. and because in order to add value and improve by practice, you must have something of value to start with. during summer practice in the nbs, students are given a chance to improve on the qualities they already demonstrated during