Vucic Announces 80% Equipment Subsidies in Southern Serbia
Ahead of the closing rally in Nis, list leader Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia laid out a package for the south: subsidies, new universities, Vlasina and free dental care.
Aleksandar Vucic, leader of the “Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia” list, laid out a package of measures for southern Serbia on October 20 during an appearance on TV Informer. A day before the list’s closing rally in Nis, he announced 80 percent subsidies for equipment in five cities, new universities, investment in tourism on Vlasina and free dental services. We previously reported his statement from the same appearance that, if the list loses, he will congratulate the winners.
How much in subsidies will investors in southern Serbia get?
According to Vucic, investors who choose Leskovac, Doljevac, Pirot, Vranje or Prokuplje would receive an 80 percent subsidy for equipment, and the state would build the infrastructure in full. For Sremska Mitrovica, Indjija, Belgrade and Novi Sad, the figures stay at 50 percent for equipment and 80 percent for infrastructure. He named southeastern Serbia, western Serbia and the Banat, the eastern part of Vojvodina, as priority areas.
He explained the difference this way:
“If you want to come in the future to Sremska Mitrovica, Indjija, Belgrade, Novi Sad, that’s great, you will get 50%. For the equipment you can get, and for infrastructure we will do 80%, but not 100%. But if you want to come to Leskovac, Doljevac, Pirot, Vranje, Prokuplje, there we will give you not 50%, but 80%, and we will build the infrastructure 100%, so that we attract as many factories as possible.”
The state would also subsidize hotels and motels in those regions, since, as he put it, they are what “lifts all those regions.” To finance the whole package, Vucic said the economy needs to grow by 4.2 to 4.5 percent, along with additional budget funds.
What was announced for universities, tourism and health care?
He announced new universities in Vranje, Leskovac, Zajecar, Bor, Cacak and Uzice, along with additional departments of University of Nis faculties. He justified this by pointing to investors’ need for skilled people:
“So that is the only way, because no big investor will come there if they don’t see knowledge.”
He also announced a law to increase competition among faculties, with no deadline for adopting it, along with special subsidies for domestic businesspeople who invest in education. Separately, he said: “As soon as we form a government, we will solve the problem of politics at the faculties once and for all.”
For tourism he singled out Lake Vlasina and the municipalities of Crna Trava, Surdulica and Bosilegrad, where, according to TV Zona plus, a complete sewage system would cost at least 50 million euros. Vucic named a highway as a precondition. He also announced a revival of the food industry, with cold storage facilities and examples of systems such as Srbijanka, Podgorka, Delises and Dzervin.
In health care he promised that dental services at community health centers will be free for everyone by the end of 2027, while at present only emergency treatment is free. An NIPT prenatal test would also be free for all pregnant women. On dentistry he said:
“We will make it free for everyone, and we will start in March with older people. We just have to put it in the budget, because it is a lot of money. We have to find that money.”
Railways, data centers and the question of money
Vucic also spoke about infrastructure. According to him, once construction of the Valjevo-Vrbnica railway begins, the hardest part will be finished in four to five years, “however long it takes us.” He sees data centers in the area from Prijepolje to Kragujevac. The condition, as he put it, would be that ten percent of their energy needs are met by, for example, LNG imported via Montenegro, which would allow the centers to be cooled.
“Build a Silicon Valley,” he said of that part of the country, adding that he has negotiated on the matter with the Americans and will continue the talks.
At the time of writing we had no response from the Student List to these specific announcements. In the same appearance Vucic criticized its 11-point program and described his own intention in these words: “My intention was to talk about what we will do.”
What is on the program at the Nis rally?
Vucic said he will present the plan for the south in more detail on October 21 on King Milan Square. The music program starts around 4:30 p.m. Nis TV lists performances by Dejan Petrovic with his brass band, Sasa Matic and Ceda Markovic, and 24sedam adds Nedeljko Bilkic and the Gobovic sisters. The official part begins at 6 p.m., with Milorad Dodik and Tomislav Nikolic speaking first, and Vucic’s address expected around 6:40 p.m. The evening ends with fireworks.
On Instagram, Vucic posted: “It’s going to be a slam dunk. See you tomorrow in Nis.” According to 24sedam, he said earlier while a guest on RTS:
“I invite you, you from southern Serbia, to come tomorrow to our closing rally in Nis, from 6:00 p.m. And thank you for a wonderful and clean campaign.”
Snap parliamentary elections take place on Sunday.
