Vucic Announces Krusevac Park Opening for October 14
President Aleksandar Vucic toured seven Rasina District municipalities and announced the Krusevac industrial park opens October 14, alongside a hospital overhaul and an April bridge near Trstenik.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic toured seven municipalities of the Rasina District on Tuesday, accompanied by Defense Minister Bratislava Gasic. The schedule opened at 10 a.m. at the “Colici plus” company in Brus, continued at 10:45 a.m. at the “Cvetkovic” winery in Stanjevo near Aleksandrovac, at 11:45 a.m. at the “Biseri” kindergarten in Trstenik, at 12:35 p.m. at the Regional Industrial and Technology Park in Krusevac, at 1:15 p.m. at construction works on the Boraca War Veterans’ Home in Krusevac, at 2:05 p.m. at the Vucetic household in Parcane near Varvarin, and closed at 3:10 p.m. at the Gagic household in Plocnik near Cicevac.
The centerpiece of the tour was the Regional Industrial and Technology Park in Krusevac, worth more than 18 million euros, whose official opening has now been set for October 14.
“This industrial and technology park is worth more than 18 million euros, and it will mean a great deal to us going forward,” Vucic said at the park, adding that the facility will serve young people from Krusevac and the surrounding area for start-ups and industry cooperation, giving them a reason to stay in their field rather than leave the country.
The park as a nucleus for the whole district
The president said the park should become, in his words, a nucleus that draws larger companies to Krusevac and Trstenik, while smaller firms would supply Varvarin, Cicevac, Brus and Aleksandrovac. He also noted where Krusevac stands among Serbian cities.
“Krusevac is the seventh-largest city in Serbia; only Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac, Subotica and Leskovac are bigger,” Vucic said.
For the reconstruction of the Krusevac General Hospital, the president announced works starting within the next year. The figure varies between accounts of the visit: one puts it at 42 million euros excluding equipment, while another cites a range of 42 to 45 million euros. Further down the line, a sports hall called “Lazar,” worth more than 30 million euros, was also announced.
Vucic also spoke about wage and employment growth in the city. The average salary in Krusevac, he said, rose from 290 euros in 2012 to 890 euros this year, while the number of employed people reached 37,274. Accounts differ on the starting point of that growth: one cites employment rising from 26,000, another from 25,000 people. Unemployment, he said, fell from 15,000 to about 6,000 people.
“I remember it like it was yesterday, when we were trying to figure out how to save ‘Trajal’ and everything else, and then we brought in ‘Kromberg-Subert,’” Vucic said, recalling the period when the company Kromberg-Subert set up in Krusevac. Here, too, the reported figures diverge: one source puts Kromberg-Subert’s workforce at 3,900, another at about 4,000, against the 700 jobs originally planned.
Investment across the district’s municipalities
In Brus, the president announced six million euros for 15 kilometers of road paving to be completed by the end of October, two million euros for the Vignjiste water system, and six million euros for the future “Vracar” resort, whose construction is planned for the second half of next year.
Near Trstenik, the construction of the Stopanja Seliste bridge was announced, worth up to five million euros, with works starting in April next year. The Plocnik-Pojate water system was allocated 750,000 euros.
In Parcane near Varvarin, during the visit to the Vucetic household, the president announced the reconstruction of the “Mirko Tomic” school in the village of Obrez, Varvarin municipality, worth about two million euros, with a deadline running from April to September next year.
At the “Cvetkovic” winery in Stanjevo near Aleksandrovac, the president spoke about wine exports and support for small producers, who, he said, have access to grants of up to 3.6 million dinars.
A recurring format
The tour of the Rasina District continues a format Vucic has used elsewhere in Serbia this year: direct encounters with citizens in the presence of local officials. A similar scene played out earlier during his tour of Kraljevo, when Vucic interrupted the mayor’s address to the assembled crowd.
Whether the October 14 deadline holds will become clear soon, since it is the first date on the list of pledges made during the Rasina District tour, ahead of April next year, when work on the Stopanja Seliste bridge is due to begin and the near-term deadline for the school renovation in Obrez runs out.
