DODIK: SEVERAL FOREIGN FACTORIES WILL BE OPENED WITHIN A MONTH

BELGRADE, MAY 7 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik announced that several foreign factories would be opened in Srpska within a month.

"`Iskra' from Slovenia opened a factory, these days we need to talk about a new investment. On Friday, I was with an investor from Slovakia who is investing EUR 136 million in new production plan in Banja Luka. There are also investors from Italy, those who dislocate production from the EU are located in Bijeljina," Dodik told the press in Belgrade. He has stated that Republika Srpska is economically and politically stable, and reminded that the budget deficit at the end of last year was 0.4 percent, while the debt of Srpska was 32 percent of GDP. Regarding the opposition criticism that the government allegedly brought Republika Srpska into an almost hopeless situation, Dodik pointed out that the GDP growth of 2.9 percent "did not fall from Mars", and stated that Srpska had 2.8 billion investments last year. The president of Republika Srpska said that the growth of the domestic product is from 1.6 to 1.7 billion, and that salaries in Srpska are increasing by 10 percent, and by 40 percent to the police.