31.05.2010.

Vinoraca military compound exchanged for apartments

The Mayor of Jagodina Dragan Markovic and the director of the Property Directorate Bratislav Pejkovic signed a contract on exchange of military property owned by MoD and this local self-government.

The signing ceremony was attended by Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac who on this occasion said that the military compound at Vinoraca road with an estimated value of 43 million RSD, and that Mod would get a number of apartments and money for value disparity.

Sutanovac pointed out that this was an important exchange which would enable the defense system to obtain certain number of flats in order to solve the housing issues of current and former defense system members. He said that this would boost the development of local self-government thus creating conditions for economic growth. The minister reminded that the Master Plan of 2006 had declared as early as 2006 the military compound Vinoraca as unpromising and unaffordable.

Minister thanked the directorate for a quick assessment of the value of the said facility, thanking the directorate and saying that it should not be regarded as an inhibitor and that we should be aware that there is a large number of unpromising and unaffordable military compounds in Serbia which will be exchanged with the local self-government or sold to private owners.

Commending Minister, Dragan Markovic, the Mayor of Jagodina stated that the cooperation with MoD during Sutanovac’s term in office had been far better than in previous periods. He remarked that they had reached an agreement with competent organs when it comes to value estimate of the compound at Vinoraca road covering 14,6 ha. This compound has two facilities-the first which will be used as office space in the future and the other as a venue covering 2000 square meters.

Markovic stressed that the local self-government had offered free areas for construction to investors who are obliged by the contract to employ Jagodina citizens in the newly built facilities. Since investors usually look for a certain office space along wit the property, the mayor said that this exchange would enable this.
One Austrian company, as he said, might soon get the aforementioned location where 200 people could be hired.

Answering reporters’ questions regarding arms export, Sutanovac said that our defense industry had made remarkable success in raising the export numbers and that some factories are not even able to manufacture the needed quantities, and that they should expand their capacities. In early summer, the first contract that is to bring the first billion would be signed.

Sutanovac refused to comment on the value of the property, saying that the prices of property had plummeted. He said that he had no wish to be remembered as a minister who had placed all property for sale, but rather as a minister who had managed to preserve the military property, and had resolved numerous housing issues.

Reminding that the previous period had seen 2000 cases solved, while another 1000 members will get apartments this year.
As regards the security situation in Kosovo, he said that the army was monitoring the situation carefully, and that there was no real danger, but that there was a threat of asymmetrical threats, since a few weeks ago hidden weapons had been found in Kosovo, as he reminded the media.

He took this opportunity to commend the cooperation with KFOR concluding that there were no indices that we could expect some serious escalation of violence or other problems. He said that the society in Kosovo should follow in the steps of every civilized society and should avoid communication through throwing stones, but should rather practice a more civilized way of communication.