Minister promises "halt to unemployment rate growth"

BELGRADE Minister Verica Kalanovic told Tanjug on Thursday that her ministry would set aside about RSD 6.5 billion for underdeveloped regions of the country. Kalanovic, who is in charge of regional development and local self-government, at the same time "expressed her hope that 2013 would be the year it which the state administration would stop the unemployment growth". Minister promises "halt to unemployment rate growth" In 2013, the ministry will in particular deal with underdeveloped regions, setting aside a sum of RSD 4.5 billion of the total of 6.5 billion for business entities operating in the regions, Kalanovic said. “Without supporting business entities there can be no new employment, no preserving jobs and no investment for which the ministry envisages special privileges,” she said. We have plans to reconstruct the road from Svrljig to Kalna and further to Stara Planina, aimed at reviving the abandoned areas in eastern Serbia, said the minister. What the Ministry of Economy and Finance did in 2012 on Mt. Stara Planina contributed to people returning to their lands, and now we need to connect the region to Corridor 10, which is a huge project, she added. Kalanovic stated that they about RSD 300 million would be set aside in 2013 for the industrial zones already having good investors, such as the Vranje region that had two well-known investors. A number of the total of 92 industrial zones in Serbia have already been fully developed, such as those in Sabac, western Serbia and in Velika Plana, central Serbia, which need no new investments, she told Tanjug. Asked whether the 2013 plans of the Ministry of Regional Development included building regional roads, Kalanovic said that an agreement with the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) on the construction of a regional highway connecting Corridor 10 and Corridor 11 had been signed the week before. The road is a regional highway from Pojate to Preljina known as the Morava Corridor, which will extend along the Morava River, Kalanovic said, adding that the highway will connect major Serbian cities of Krusevac, Cacak and Kraljevo with Corridor 10 and Corridor 11. This should give the people living in these regions equal life opportunities as had by those in other parts of Serbia, she added. Kalanovic pointed out that more than 75 percent of foreign investment went into the projects implemented along the Corridor 10 line, while nothing had been done in the 110 kilometers from Pojate to Preljina, where more than half a million people lived. Kalanovic said that the EUR 642 million worth of investments in road infrastructure and more than EUR 290 million Chinese of investment in the Pojate-Preljina highway would be a great support to local enterprises and a great help to the regions where the roads would be built. Verica Kalanovic (Beta, file) Tanjug

Minister promises "halt to unemployment rate growth"

In 2013, the ministry will in particular deal with underdeveloped regions, setting aside a sum of RSD 4.5 billion of the total of 6.5 billion for business entities operating in the regions, Kalanović said.

“Without supporting business entities there can be no new employment, no preserving jobs and no investment for which the ministry envisages special privileges,” she said.

We have plans to reconstruct the road from Svrljig to Kalna and further to Stara Planina, aimed at reviving the abandoned areas in eastern Serbia, said the minister.

What the Ministry of Economy and Finance did in 2012 on Mt. Stara Planina contributed to people returning to their lands, and now we need to connect the region to Corridor 10, which is a huge project, she added.

Kalanović stated that they about RSD 300 million would be set aside in 2013 for the industrial zones already having good investors, such as the Vranje region that had two well-known investors.

A number of the total of 92 industrial zones in Serbia have already been fully developed, such as those in Sabac, western Serbia and in Velika Plana, central Serbia, which need no new investments, she told Tanjug.

Asked whether the 2013 plans of the Ministry of Regional Development included building regional roads, Kalanović said that an agreement with the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) on the construction of a regional highway connecting Corridor 10 and Corridor 11 had been signed the week before.

The road is a regional highway from Pojate to Preljina known as the Morava Corridor, which will extend along the Morava River, Kalanović said, adding that the highway will connect major Serbian cities of Krusevac, Cacak and Kraljevo with Corridor 10 and Corridor 11.

This should give the people living in these regions equal life opportunities as had by those in other parts of Serbia, she added.

Kalanović pointed out that more than 75 percent of foreign investment went into the projects implemented along the Corridor 10 line, while nothing had been done in the 110 kilometers from Pojate to Preljina, where more than half a million people lived.

Kalanović said that the EUR 642 million worth of investments in road infrastructure and more than EUR 290 million Chinese of investment in the Pojate-Preljina highway would be a great support to local enterprises and a great help to the regions where the roads would be built.