Vucic Promises 25 Million Euros for Lazarevac Health Care

Aleksandar Vucic used a campaign rally in Lazarevac on Thursday evening, October 15, to make a string of promises with deadlines, ten days before the parliamentary elections set for October 25. The leader of the “Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia” list announced about 25 million euros for health facilities in the town and the transfer of 1,500 workers out of TENT by March.

The rally at the “Kolubara” sports center began at 6 p.m., and a video screen was set up outside the hall for those who could not get in. Vucic devoted a large part of the speech to his political opponents.

What did Vucic promise Lazarevac?

Most of the promises come with a deadline, and Vucic tied some of them explicitly to whether he becomes prime minister:

• Health care: about 25 million euros, within two years
• TENT: moving 1,500 people by March, with higher pay
• Mirosaljci water supply and local government debts: the state takes them over within the next six months
• Oversight: personal involvement in Lazarevac, its projects and its local government, with a replacement of officials who failed to live up to citizens’ trust

On health care, he said:

“We will give about 25 million euros. Within two years you will have the most modern facilities for providing health care.”

He did not specify which facilities would be covered.

Kolubara, TENT and 14,000 employees

Vucic said there had been pressure to close the mines. “I am glad that, despite great pressure, because they asked us to close both Resavica and Kolubara, we managed not only to fight that off, but Kolubara will keep operating and we will invest in it,” he stressed. He did not say who had made the demand.

He promised TENT workers higher pay: “By March we will move 300 plus 1,200, that is, 1,500 people out of TENT. We will secure higher pay for those people.”

He also warned about the town’s dependence on a single industry: “Today 14,000 people work in Kolubara and everything depends on the mining basin in Lazarevac, but we will have to find something to employ women, so that they can work, so that a second and a third salary come into families.” He also mentioned the “Vozd Karadjordje” road, which he said connects Lazarevac with Mladenovac, Arandjelovac, Topola and Raca. He gave no amount or deadline for that road.

Water, debts and “bad management”

He was most open when talking about local government: “We had bad management for all 35 years in Lazarevac. I bear the blame for that too.” He then named specific problems, the water supply in Mirosaljci and debts the municipality cannot resolve on its own:

“Today neither the city of Belgrade nor Lazarevac has the money to pay for that. Just as the water in Mirosaljci dragged on, I know about every problem. And we will take that on ourselves within the next six months. There is no talk here of any debt rescheduling.”

He also promised that, if he becomes prime minister, he will take charge of the town personally: “If I get your trust to become prime minister, I guarantee you that I will personally deal with Lazarevac and that I will personally oversee all the projects and the state of local government and that we will replace the people who failed to live up to your trust.” He also voiced hope that the town square and the garage would be completed.

In our earlier report on the rally in Sabac, we wrote about promises of a new hospital, sewage system and roads. Health care comes first in Lazarevac as well, with deadlines added for TENT, the water supply and municipal debts, all ranging from six months to two years.

What did he say about his opponents?

Vucic said he was told before the rally that people supporting the “blockader list” had gathered in three groups, 60 to 70 people in total. “What is your intention? To stop someone from speaking and having their own opinion? We never had that in Serbia,” he asked. He added that he would be ashamed of himself if he had told anyone to stop someone else’s rally.

Of the Student List candidates, he claimed that “out of 250 names, there is not a single worker,” and he described its 11-point program by saying that “if they had given it to my Vukan, he would have put it together better than they did.” Of Dejan Soskic, the former governor of the National Bank of Serbia, whom he called the candidate for prime minister, he said: “Instead of looking at the forecast when you get up, you first look at the exchange rate, then run to the bank to swap your money so it doesn’t go to waste. Now he is the great fighter.”

He also mentioned Jovo Bakic: “And how do people in the Kolubara region react to Jovo Bakic being the list leader? He says, and is not ashamed, that the great Bishop Nikolaj is the same as Stepinac.”

Vucic recounted a conversation in which Ana Brnabic asked Aleksandar Baucal, whom he called one of the main blockaders, whether they would impose sanctions on Russia: “Let me translate what he said, we will impose them two days after we come to power.” That is his interpretation of Baucal’s answer, not a statement by Baucal. He added: “Do you know why Putin said he hopes Vucic will be prime minister? Because he knows what they are preparing for him.”

To Student List voters he said:

“If you say you are ready to vote for 250 Natasa Kandics, that means only one thing, that you do not love your Serbia. We love it and we will not let 250 Natasa Kandics win.”

He claimed that his opponents receive money from abroad: “They are given millions on a daily basis, we will soon publish that.” In the part of the speech carried by Politika, he did not present any documentation. The same goes for his claim about a link between Albin Kurti, Milo Djukanovic, Andrej Plenkovic and the Student List, which he based on the fact that, as he put it, one member of Kurti’s party wore a “Students Win” T-shirt in the Pristina parliament. We did not find a response from the Student List to these claims in the sources we read.

Pensions and a closing message

He ended by thanking pensioners and women, whom he called “the most responsible in our society”: “Pensions will keep rising and pensioners should know that. Special thanks to our women who preserved both families and society and Serbia as a whole.” He gave no amount or deadline for the increase.

He closed the speech with the words: “If you give me your trust, I will personally take up the cause of Lazarevac. Let us beat them here in Lazarevac too, more convincingly than ever! Victory, victory, victory!”