PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2012

REGIONAL MARKET REPORTS 14 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 01+02/12 www.petpla.net Serbia Difficult market but a high proportion of PET Although Yugoslavia has collapsed, politically speaking, into a number of different autono- mous states, the individual countries of the former Yugoslavia live on in terms of their com- mercial complexity. We visited some of these states on our Go To Brau Beviale tour. Our regional reports from the Balkans kick off with Serbia. With a total of 7.5 million inhabitants, the country is one of the smaller countries of Europe. Its gross domes- tic product per capita is nominally around €4200 / year. In 2009 the average net wage was around €335 per person. Despite successful endeavours in the reconstruction sector after the NATO bombardment during the Kosovo Conflict of 1998/99, one in every seven Serbs is still living below the poverty line today. The worldwide economic crisis in 2009 did not have such a profound effect on Serbia as it did on other states, because the strict sanctions imposed by the Serbian National Bank and the absence of any attractions as far as speculative investors were concerned led to Serbia’s becoming one of the most highly capitalised and most stable banking markets. As might be suspected, the Serbian consumer does not place a high priority on packaged drinks. According to data obtained from Euromonitor, the market for packaged water in Serbia amounts to just €200m. That is a mere €21 per head per month. Despite these negative factors, a buoyant industry has developed in Serbia around beverages and PET. 90% of CSD and the same percentage of water is packaged in PET (source: Canadien). In the case of beer, the figure is likely to be in the region of 25%, and perhaps more. In addition to domestic consumption, exports are begin- ning to play a role, with Montenegro the principal outlet. Until 2006, the two countries were in a loose confedera- tion. Montenegro has carved out a reputation as a summer by Alexander Büchler Regional market reports Serbia Part 1