Transparency: Government Needs To Publicize Information on Aid

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The Transparency Serbia (TS) organization said on April 21 that it had sent an initiative to the Ministry of Finance and Cabinet asking that they disclose information on the aid that state institutions had received from foreign countries, international organizations, economic subjects, other legal entities and individuals for fighting the coronavirus epidemic.

TS said that the government should protect the personal information of all donors who wished to remain unnamed. The organization said in its initiative that a good example of this was the publicizing of similar information during floods in 2014. "After this question was publicly opened, the Serbian Cabinet began releasing and regularly updating information on donations," TS said in a statement.

The organization recalled that the Ministry of Finance had posted instructions for donations for fighting Covid-19 on its website. The media has featured reports (mostly as statements from officials) on money and material donations.

"What was not, however, reported are comprehensive, easy-to-follow and documented reports on donations of money and goods, as well as the distribution of these means. We believe that the publication of this information is of exceptional importance, not just from the standpoint of improving the public's trust in government bodies, but above all as a incentive to current and potential donors," the statement said.