Speaking about the six-month results of the stock exchange, Gordana Dostanic said the drop in trade and indexes is characteristic for the stock exchanges in the region, the official Tanjug news agency reported.

Dostanic said the downturn cannot be directly linked to political instability in Serbia, but primarily to the global crisis that is present on the financial markets and which consequently also affects the markets of countries in transition. Politics is only one segment that affects an investment decision, Dostanic said. Regarding the indexes, Dostanic said the Belgrade Stock Exchange index dropped the least when compared with the indexes in the region.

The Belgrade BELEX 15 index of most liquid shares recorded a drop in value of 23.09% at the end of the second trimester of 2008, while on the other hand, Slovenia’s SBI20 dropped 30.71%, Croatia’s CROBEX 31.52% and Bulgaria’s SOFIX 34.72%. (people.com.cn)