Nicola Bertolini, Head of the Cooperation in the EU Delegation to Serbia, and Martin Klauke, Head of Operations Sector II at the EU Delegation to Serbia visited Kragujevac. They discussed with the City of Kragujevac and the Regional Agency for Economic Development of Šumadija and Pomoravlje representatives about current and future projects that will contribute to a better quality of life by creating favorable conditions to attract investors and enable competitiveness of small businesses. From 2018 until today, the European Union has supported 19 projects with a total value of 1.6 million euros through the EU PRO and EU PRO Plus projects, among which are: the Revitalization and expansion of the brownfield site in the Old Industrial Zone, Rehabilitation of the bridge over the Lepenica, Construction of sports fields in the Big Park, Improvement and development of the geographic information system.
Our strategic commitment is to join the European Union, said Mayor Nikola Dašić, thanking for the so far support to the city of Kragujevac. Essentially, geographically, historically, culturally and in every other way, we are already a part of the EU, and in that sense, we welcome their assistance and support to become a part of a larger family. Today we talked about various projects which refer to the Šumadija hall, the new FILUM building, as well as the pearl of Kragujevac – the Military Technical Institute, i.e. the Prince’s Arsenal. As Mayor Dašić pointed out, it is something that represents the future and the characterization of the city of Kragujevac which counts upon their assistance, not only in the preparation of projects but also through their financing to a certain degree. The city of Kragujevac currently has 23 prepared projects, and our priority is investing in young people and their future, said Dašić.
We see Kragujevac as an extremely important place in the broader context of the development of the entire region, pointed out Nicola Bertolini, the Head of the Cooperation in the EU Delegation to Serbia. We realized today that there are projects which are in various stages of preparation, and that some of them need certain refinements in order to receive financial support from Europe. However, the main impression of Kragujevac is that it is a city with a great potential for learning, education, and creating opportunities for investments and innovations.
We have to significantly increase the funds from the EU that have been available to the city of Kragujevac so far, and the reason for my visit is precisely in that context, said Mr. Bertolini and added that this is the beginning of a better dialogue and greater opportunities for the implementation of projects and the EU integration at the level of the local self-government.
Accompanied by Mayor Nikola Dašić, Nicola Bertolini, Head of the Cooperation in the EU Delegation to Serbia, and Martin Klauke, Head of Operations Sector II at the EU Delegation to Serbia, visited the Military Technical Institute, the Industrial Zone, as well as the Legacy of Nikola Koka Janković and the Center of Excellence, the construction of which was financed by the loans from the European Investment Bank.
