January 25, 2011

25. January 2011.

New occurrences in Medvedja, one of the poorest municipalities in South Serbia

Medvedja - Last year, 260 persons got employed at the “Lece” lead, gold and zinc mine. Three years ago, the “Lece” mine got a new majority owner, which is the “Farmakom” Company from Sabac. 10 million euros were invested in renovation of the uncared-for mine, while experts believe that the investment would soon pay off. According to the research that has been done so far, it will be possible to extract ores from the mine over the next half a century.

The construction of a prison will begin in Medvedja this year, where around 200 people should get jobs. The construction works should begin this spring and they should be completed by the end of the year.

Filip Petrovski, Director of the “Lece” mine, says that considerable funds had been invested in the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment, that about 80 per cent of the plan had already been implemented, that the efficiency of the mine should soon improve, which would result in the opening of new working places.

“The mine and Sijarinska Spa are the only two chances for Medvedja to develop. That has been known for a long time, but we now expect to get assistance from the republican institutions,” said Slobodan Draskovic, President of the Municipality of Medvedja. “Our plans are far more ambitious, since new working places are going to be opened this year, as well as over the next few years, in Sijarinska Spa and in smaller plants,” Slobodan Draskovic said.

“Thanks to a donation of one million euros, a plant for production of briquettes and other products will soon be opened in Medvedja.

Negotiations on the opening of the aforementioned plant are going on with the Slovenian businessmen, while around 40 people will get jobs there. The new company will be a public enterprise“, Mr. Drasković said.

According to the latest statistical data, employees from the municipality of Medvedja have the highest average salaries in the territory of six municipalities of the Jablanica district, while employees from Crna Trava, which is the smallest local self-government in South Serbia, have the lowest salaries in the district.