29.01.2020.

President Vučić opened a “Jumko” branch in Drvar

We are helping our people

- Even when we live in different countries, we always know that we belong to the same nation, and that is the most significant message. We are of Serbian origin and we are here to help one another and we will always do so. Neither the peek, Oštrelj, nor anything else can represent a border for our people, and you can count on Serbia just as much as we can count on Drvar standing by Serbia, and we love it as much as it loves us – said President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, who accompanied by Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin and other senior officials, officially opened a production branch of the “Jumko” from Vranje factory, which will employ 100 workers today.

- We have fulfilled what we had promised, we have transferred 925 thousand Euros to the Drvar account, we have opened a small factory. It will be better, and the factory will grow even bigger. We are helping the Health Center; we will have it renovated, and assist with the salaries. The women who work here today are happy, and that cannot be acted out – said the President of Serbia, adding that salaries are not large, but that they will increase and “they will come close to salaries in Serbia, which we will also increase.”

President Vučić confirmed that in every municipality in Republika Srpska, Serbia is implementing some kind of project.

- This has never happened before, but we are either doing a school, health center or a kindergarten, factory somewhere and roads, said the President of Serbia, adding that the highway running to Banja Luka and Sarajevo is of utmost importance, and that Serbia continues to liaise with Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina, “which is of great importance for these states, but also for our people, wherever they may live.”

Responding to a journalist’s question, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that the “Jumko” branch in Drvar is much too small to even start speaking about Serbia’s desire to expand her political influence through the economy.

- Does Germany expand its political influence in Serbia when it employs almost 70.000 people? I wish they would hire as many as 500 thousand, and I do not know what political influence this would have, because no one from the German Embassy or their Government invites me to tell you what I wish to say today, but I am happy that they came and that Serbia can boast that she completed 3.8 billion investments last year, which is at the level of almost 60 percent of total investments in the Western Balkans, said the President of the Republic of Serbia, adding that capital has no borders and that this is good for everyone.

- There are a hundred families here and bread has been put on their tables. The number of unemployed is decreasing and this is something that suits everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because it raises the total gross domestic product of the country, raises the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the economic ladder, and I do not see any cause of concern in this matter for anyone. It is our wish for us all to become economically close, because there are one million Serbs or more living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so if we are not close, we would soon have a large number of Serbs who would move from here to Belgrade and Serbia, and we do not wish that to happen. We want people to stay at their hearths here in Drvar and in Republika Srpska and everywhere else and in any other place and our goal is only to help – said President Vučić.

With gratitude to Serbia and President Vučić, the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković, emphasized that the new “Jumko” facility in Drvar is a very significant support for the Serbian people.

- Today’s opening of the “Jumko” branch in Drvar is only the beginning of activities that will improve the position of the Serbian people and will cause many who have left to return, in the Federation, as much as in Republika Srpska. President Vučić has made a lot of promises today, and he is a man who keeps his promises, said Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Radovan Višković.

Director of “Jumko” from Vranje, Branislav Trajković, said that he was happy because, within very short term, at the initiative of President Vučić, the factory in Drvar was opened after five months.

- We have recruited 80 workers, after the competition in which more than 300 people applied. The women received training in Vranje and are now working on a program for the Electric Power Industry of Serbia, and they will work for other orders that “Jumko” receives. We have implemented the project in cooperation with the Government of Serbia, the Ministries of Defense and the Economy, as well as with the local government in Drvar and the highest representatives of Republika Srpska – said the Director of “Jumko” and added that after three months of training, women will start working professionally, “more demanding jobs will come along, and we hope to continue to increase the number of workers by the end of the year.”

At the beginning of February, another 20 workers will be employed, confirmed Trajković, who especially thanked Minister Aleksandar Vulin for his great logistics assistance, as also the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defense, Bojan Jocić.

One of the employees of the new “Jumko” factory branch in Drvar is Duška Šipka, who says that this job means a lot to her personally.

- We women who have been unemployed are very lucky and this is wonderful for us. I have been out of work since 1995, everyone in the house is happy, the job is not difficult and for a woman it is excellent and relaxing – says a new employee of the plant “Jumko” in Drvar.

Prior to the opening of Jumko’s facility in Drvar, President Vučić, accompanied by the Ministers of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and senior Republika Srpska officials, attended the opening of the Komercijalna Banka branch in the town and visited the local Health Center.