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August 19, 2010

19. August 2010.

INTERVIEW GRANTED BY SLOBODAN DRASKOVIC, PRESIDENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF MEDVEDJA – Taken over from the „NIN“weekly


The municipality of Medvedja, which covers the area of 542 km2, is situated in the southern part of the Central Serbia. 10,760 people live in 35 local communities or 44 settlements. We talked with Slobodan Draskovic, President of the Municipality of Medvedja.   

Why is the infrastructure in Medvedja poor, and did the situation improve over the past few years?

When it comes to the infrastructure, the Coordination Body provides a great deal of financial assistance to us .This year, we received the financial assistance for the infrastructure in the territory of the municipality in the amount of 43 million dinars.  The infrastructural development is dealt with systematically. We are currently building the Sijarinska Spa – Medvedja road. Four kilometers of the said road are already finished, while we expect from the Republican Road Directorate to continue building the M9 road, which leads to Leskovac, which would ensure good road communications to us. Speaking of the water-supply and sewage systems, I should point out that we have already replaced 1,200 meters of pipes in the city of Medvedja. We have replaced the asbestos pipes with polyethylene ones, while we should also finish off the primary and secondary networks soon. We got from the Ministry of Local Self-Government around 14 million dinars, which are going to be invested in the local communities. The tender documentation on the matter is completed and the agreements are signed.   

What are the major potentials for economic development in Medvedja?

The backbone of development of the municipality is the „Lece“mine, which was put into operation by President Boris Tadic a few moths ago. Around 350 people should get employed at the mine by the end of the year. Most of the employed are from the territory of the municipality of Medvedja, while there is a great interest for getting employment there. I am pleased by the may in which the „Farmakom MB“ Company and its Director Miroslav Bogicevic privatized the mine, since the miners have good salaries and they regularly pay us income tax. The revenues will be better than they are now when the sale of concentrates begins, so that we expect a greater cash inflow from the mine.
 
I must express gratitude to Mr. Milan Markovic, President of the Coordination Body, who was very involved in and assisted with the privatization of the mine, as well as with putting the mine into a proper operation.  

How much are the other institutions of the Republic of Serbia willing to help with solving the social problems in Medvedja, and how much are the European institutions open to it?

In cooperation with the European Union, and through the IMG, an eight – apartment building was constructed. Six apartments were allocated to displaced persons and refugees, while two apartments were given to socially threatened residents of Medvedja, who, unfortunately, have children with special needs.

Mr. Degert, Head of the EC in Serbia, Ministers Markovic and Ljajic and Mr. Tucic, the Serbian Refugee Commissioner, attended the event of giving out the apartment keys.

With the assistance of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, we constructed a Day Care Center for the Elderly and Ailing, which is already operational, while we expect that we will, with the assistance of the government, the Coordination Body and the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, build a Permanent Care Center for the accommodation of 50 persons.   

Can young people from Medvedja, who completed elementary and secondary school, continue their education in Medvedja?

Worthy of praise are the extended departments of two Nis University’s Faculties in Medvedja, which are the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Economics. A considerable number of students applied for them and we are going to have the second enrollment period.

In your opinion, what are the greatest potentials that haven’t been used so far?

The Municipality of Medvedja has good economic potentials, because 73 per cent of its territory is covered with forest, which means that we have a great deal of timber. We are also rich in ores, which are to be found near Lece. In addition, there is a marble onyx-bed in Sijarinska Spa, as well as top-quality stone in the territory of Bucumet.

The territory of the municipality of Medvedja is clean from an environmental point of view, so that it is suitable for producing healthy food, which is of both plant and animal origin. In the area of 100 km2, there is not a single pollutant that could pollute the soil or the air of our municipality. Speaking of the activities of the local self-government, I need to say that that we are preparing the municipality’s planning project, which will be completed by the end of the year. We have a detailed general plan, and based on all, there are a lot of unused resources in our municipality. That is why I invite investors to come to our municipality and develop their business operations here.