Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic says he has secured a majority in the parliament for adoption of legislation repealing the Serbian Oil Industry Act, B92 reported.

Dinkic said that the government had reached agreement with the International Monetary Fund to sell the majority share of two oil refineries and some other divisions of the state oil monopoly at the beginning of next year, but that if the new legislation is passed it will not be possible to begin the process.

However the Social Democratic Party says that there is no consensus over the way to privatise the company, “despite the claims of some officials of the Serbian Government that consensus has been reached within the governing coalition.

In a statement released today the party emphasises that Serbian Oil Industry must first find a strong strategic partner with whom it can be modernised, and then after that discussions can begin on privatising the company.

The vice-president of the Serbian Renewal Movement, Srdjan Sreckovic, also contradicted Dinkic’s claim that consensus had been reached, saying that it had not even been discussed.

“No one has even contacted ministers from the Serbian Renewal Movement and there has been no consultation with the parties of the governing coalition in the Serbian Parliament about this important issue,” he said in a written statement.