Macut, representatives of higher education institutions discuss implementation of SPIRI

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Djuro Macut met with representatives of higher education institutions on Thursday to discuss the implementation and experiences in the functioning of the System for Preparation, Execution, Accounting and Reporting (SPIRI), which the institutions have been using for a month.

"The Prime Minister emphasised that the one-month implementation showed that the introduction of this system is a good step in improving the work of higher education institutions and their financial functioning," the Serbian government said in a statement.

"The meeting looked at various needs in the work of institutions and agreed to continue the work in the form of thematic meetings.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Sasa Stevanovic stated that the system is fully functional and appealed to institutions to contact the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education with any questions, so that the implementation of this system would be as efficient as possible.

Assistant Minister of Education Aleksandar Jovic stated that the Ministry of Education is actively working on resolving open issues and that they will be resolved by the end of the month," the statement also said.

Serbia to nominate forests in three national parks for inscription on UNESCO list

BELGRADE - The Serbian government on Thursday adopted a conclusion approving the text of a nomination dossier for an extension of the UNESCO World Heritage property Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.

"Under the conclusion, the forest ecosystems of Papratski Do in the Fruska Gora National Park, Kozje Stene in the Kopaonik National Park and Zvezda and Raca in the Tara National Park are being proposed for inscription on this prestigious list," a government statement said.

"Serbia will nominate the beech forests in these three national parks jointly with France, Italy and Montenegro, and the inscription of the first natural property from Serbia on the World Heritage List would represent recognition of the successful preservation of natural heritage of European and global importance," it also said.