Every Fourth Computer in Serbia with Legal Software

The Serbian daily Blic has recently reported that overall one out of four computers in Serbia has legal software. However, only one out of ten personal, household computers has a licensed, paid for operational system.

According to the Microsoft Serbia Sales Manager Srdjan Starovic, there are 1.2 million computers in Serbia, half of which are household computers. Only 10 percent of household computers have legal software. The percentage of companies that have legal software is higher, 40 percent.

In 2011, the Serbian Ministry of Trade and Services plans to launch a EUR 2.8 million (USD 3.7 million) project for decreasing the level of software piracy.
Serbia currently has a 72 percent piracy rate. The estimates say that decreasing the piracy rate by 10 percent would add USD 29 million (EUR 22 million) to the Serbian budget and open up the possibility of several thousands new jobs.

Serbia loses about USD 100 million (EUR 75 million) annually due to software piracy, according to Dragomir Kojic, vice president of the intellectual property protection committee at the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia. Kojic stated that Serbia has adequate laws, but that the enforcement is inadequate.

For more information, please contact Jelena Jankovic at our Balkan Regional Office.

Source: Serbia daily newspaper Blic