Jumko Gets 30 Million Euros, Simpo Could Get 20 to 30 More

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, touring the Pcinja and Jablanica districts on August 22 and 23, 2026, put concrete numbers for the first time on what the state is paying into two Vranje factories that have run on debt for years, Jumko and Simpo. He said 30 million euros has already been paid out to cover taxes and contributions for all of Jumko’s workers, while an investment of 20 to 30 million euros is being prepared for Simpo, depending on whether a strategic partner from China is found or the state decides to invest directly.

The tour began in Vranje, where Vucic visited the dual education training center, and continued in Bujanovac, where he spoke with residents and, as he put it, handled their problems on the spot. The visit was hosted by Vranje Mayor Slobodan Milenkovic, with whom, according to reports from the ground, Vucic also discussed further training of staff at the center.

Srpske Vesti had previously reported on the announcement of a development program for five districts in southern Serbia, without precise figures for individual companies at the time. Those figures are now known, and they show the scale of the problem the state has taken on. Simpo’s debts, according to the numbers presented, stand at 47 to 48 million euros, and after conversion they would, per the announcement, fall to around 35 to 36 million. The factory currently employs 1,465 workers, 850 in Vranje and 260 in Bujanovac, and the goal of the aid, in the president’s words, is to preserve those jobs.

For Jumko, according to the president, the issue of taxes and contributions has already been closed out with money from the budget.

We solved this for Jumko, for all of Jumko, when it comes to taxes and contributions. We paid thirty million euros for all of Jumko to settle this, so that their years of service, contributions and insurance would all be tied together

Vucic said in the Pcinja District, explaining that this recognizes workers’ years of service and their right to pension and health insurance, regardless of the fact that the factory had fallen behind on payments in recent years.

Alongside the two factories, an investment of about 4.5 million euros from the state budget was also announced for the Bunusevac industrial zone near Vranje, money that is meant, under the plan, to help attract foreign investors. The broader package for Simpo and Jumko also mentions a figure of 500 million euros, though it has not been specified in statements so far over what period that money would be distributed, nor whether it covers infrastructure around the two factories or only direct aid to the companies.

Even while announcing new investment, the president made no secret of his dissatisfaction with results in southern Serbia so far. He said he was not satisfied with what has been achieved in Vranje to date, despite having, in his words, worked for the region the whole time. That assessment, delivered in the middle of announcing new money, leaves open the question of whether previous programs failed to deliver expected results or whether the bar the president is setting is simply higher than what has been done so far.

Bujanovac has a significant Roma community, and it was there that Vucic answered a resident’s question about the road to the local cemetery.

If you are Roma, you are the same to me as everyone else. To me, you are a good person

the president said, adding that anyone who invokes ethnicity will get no hearing from him.

A concrete, comprehensive plan for the whole of southern Serbia, however, has not yet been written. Vucic said he expects the next government to produce such a document, without giving a date for when it might be ready. For residents of Vranje, Bujanovac and the surrounding municipalities, that means the fate of Jumko and Simpo, along with the pace of work in Bunusevac, will remain, for now, the measure by which August’s announcements are checked against what actually gets done.