Along with the creation of a good economic environment, the Municipality of Boljevac has for years been focusing on capital investment. In the last few years, much has been invested in the regulation of road infrastructure and the construction of a water supply network in villages in the municipality, but that will not be the end
Thanks to its privatisation, FPM Agromehanika is the cornerstone of economic development in our municipality. They are our partners in dual education, so high school graduates will soon be found in the modern installations of this factory instead of on the labour market, says optimist Dr Nebojša Marjanović.
Behind you lie a few successful years marked by capital investments – arranging the road infrastructure and building a water supply network. Have you done all this from your own funds?
– For years, we have been working successfully on developing road infrastructure and building water supply networks in villages all around our municipality.
One of the key projects that we started last year is a water supply to the village of Podgorac, the largest village in our municipality. For this investment, we secured a donation of 150,000 euros from the Mormon Community in Serbia and 240,000 euros from the municipal budget. The water supply system has reached the village school and health centre, and this year we will continue to build the network, also with the financial support of the Mormon Community. Over the past years, we have built new waterworks in other villages.
The two largest companies on the territory of Boljevac, FPM Agromehanika doo, one of the largest manufacturers of agricultural machinery in Southeast Europe, and Bioenergy Point, have announced expansions. Will there be new jobs?
The state is helping us prepare documentation to regulate the river bed, which is extremely important to us all both for the sake of our
– The new owner of FPM Agromehanika has invested more than 10 million euros in expanding its capacity and modernising production, with another production hall of 4,000 square metres that will be completed this year, so there will be vacancies for hiring new workers.
This factory is our partner in dual education, so high school graduates will find themselves behind some of the modern machines in the factory instead of on the labour market. Agromehanika is a partner of the Indian company Sonalika, which has entrusted part of its programme for assembling Solis tractors to the factory in Boljevac. The tractors have entered the EU’s IPARD program and farmers can obtain them with good subsidies.
As for the Bioenergy Point plant, it has been successful for ten years in selling high-calorie pellets on both domestic and foreign markets. This year, a cogeneration plant will be completed, which will produce heat and electricity, and another ten new jobs are planned at the plant. About 10 million euros were invested in new capacity.
Boljevac is the first municipality to implement the project Development of Physical Infrastructure and Reconstruction of Streets in the Roma Settlement. Are you proud of the newly paved streets, water and sewage networks?
– This settlement predominantly inhabited by members of the Roma community has been a priority in infrastructure renovation in recent years. We invested first in the construction of water supply and sewerage networks, and then we also paved many of the streets. We completed the arrangement of infrastructure in the Roma settlement and became the first municipality in Serbia to successfully implement such a project.
Its total value is about 170,000 euros. We can proudly say that we are a municipality with the most developed Roma settlement in this part of Serbia.