Cedomir Janjic, mayor of Zrenjanin - 650 new hires for citizens of Zrenjanin
Last week of April saw Zrenjanin in focus – city administration signed contracts on purchase of construction land with 5 investors and negotiations with the sixth one, Italian "Technostruttura" have been announced. Companies which bough new pieces of land, "Ekometal komerc", "Gomex", "Rakic plast" and "Fulgar" are planning to expand business and apart from them Zrenjanin is waiting for “new neighbor”. It is Russian company for production of dairy products "Kraun".
These are good news for the town where the unemployment rate according to the Regional Chamber of Commerce Zrenjanin increased by 5,9% compared to previous year. The mayor of Zrenjanin, , Cedomir Janjic, is announcing that after these signed contracts and ending of construction of "Aviv" park which is expected by the end of the year, there will be need to hire 650 people. We talked with him about the terms the City of Zrenjanin is offering to investors, plans of existing and companies which are coming and we also found out that healthy water in Zrenjanin should start this year.
eKapija: The City administration of Zrenjanin these days have been actively signing contracts with new and old investors. How much space is there in industrial zone has been occupied so far and how much is available for future investors?
-Yes, contracts with investors which are planning to build production departments have been signed these days in Zrenjanin and it proves current good work of local administration which I manage and our plans to enable citizens of Zrenjanin better and more quality conditions for life in the town.
Industrial zone "Jugoistok" is on 72 ha of equipped construction city land with an option to expand on additional 1.100 ha. At the moment, 30 ha are available.
eKapija:Are you currently negotiating with new investors? Which ones?
-We are trying to present potential of our industry whenever an opportunity arises. We are currently negotiating with a number of investors but for business ethics, we cannot reveal details.
eKapija: What benefits does the City of Zrenjanin provide to investors?
-We provide investors with 30% of construction land price decrease for one-time payment, offices in our Business incubator as well as operations in Free zone Zrenjanin regime, completely equipped land with infrastructure and administrative and technical support in obtaining permits.
Early this year, expert team of the second Business conference "Transport and logistics of SEE and the Danube region - TIL 2015", held in Belgrade where more than 400 people participated from 20 countries, decided to deliver , "Brand Leader Award" to the Free zone Zrenjanin for the best market positioned industrial and logistics center in SEE.
The "Brand Leader Award" is delivered based on a number of standardized criteria which comprise professionalism, innovation and high degree of market recognition.
eKapija: What is the unemployment rate in Zrenjanin?
-Unemployment is, unfortunately, high, I often say it is a burning issue in Zrenjanin which is unfortunately the case in other towns in Serbia. But we are really making efforts to solve the problem and I expect results will be visible soon.
eKapija: After the contracts signed on Tuesday and Wednesday (April 28 and 29), which number of vacancies in planned to be offered to citizens in Zrenjanin?
-With these contracts, at the beginning, we expect 300 new vacancies and some of them have expressed wish to expand. We have opening of "Aviv Park" built at the exit of Zrenajnin towards Novi Sad, and according to previous announcements, there will be 350 vacancies. We have of course been negotiating with some other investors which are planning to build production departments in our zones but as I have outlined, at this moment I cannot speak about that.
eKapija: How would you rate current offer of the City of Zrenjanin for investors? What improved compared to previous years and what are the things to be developed?
-When it comes to that, I think Zrenjanin can really be congratulated in that field, Namely, zones are completely equipped with infrastructure, the city expanded the area of Free zone Zrenjnin, we provide financial incentive, we have been working on improvement of efficiency of local administration which meets the requests and needs of investors.
N.C.