01.08.2020.

The beginning of the construction of a new and modern Covid hospital

The President of the Republic of Serbia and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, attended today the beginning of the construction of a new Covid hospital within the Military Complex “Zemun ekonomija” on Batajnički drum and together with the Minister of Defence, Aleksandar Vulin, and the Minister of Health, Zlatibor Lončar, he laid the cornerstone for the construction of the hospital, which will be completed by 1 December this year.

Speaking about the importance of the new and modern Covid hospital, President Vučić emphasized that it will be a hospital where many other things, important for people’s health will be performed– it will have everything, from delivery room to angiography room, etc.

- We do not want this magnificent 18,000 m2 facility that we are building not to have a purpose if a new vaccine is made, and we believe that it will be made. I can proudly say that this is the result of hard work and great effort of the state to invest huge money. The construction of the building alone will cost between 27 and 28 million euros on a “turnkey basis”. I am particularly happy that everything will be done by domestic, Serbian companies, with the support of our armed forces, their engineer units, and that everything will be completed with such speed. We watched in amazement as the Chinese said that they would finish all their hospitals in 15 days, which were of lower quality then, and we are building a top quality hospital that will be equipped with the most modern devices, mainly manufactured by the German company “Draeger” and we will have 200 intensive care units and 804 semi-intensive care units – emphasized the President of the Republic, adding that it will become the most significant and the largest hospital for Covid patients.

Speaking about the location of the hospital, President Vučić said that its location is easily accessible because there is an excellent access from the Novi Sad highway, but that access roads from the old road will have to be adapted.

- Naturally, this hospital will cost much more when all the equipment is placed inside – beds, respirators, x-ray machines and scanners. We have invested hundreds upon hundreds of millions of euros to preserve the health of our people and we are doing this to make it easier for them, to ease the pressure on our heroes, doctors and nurses, to provide better conditions for them and to make the burden that we had about ten days ago more evenly distributed. We are investing money that the citizens of Serbia earned, and someone cleverly kept and saved it. We are investing money in what is most important for people, both for our elderly citizens, who are still the biggest victims of this vicious disease, and everybody else who is “a target of the infection” today. We are looking to the future to predict the needs. A lot of people fear the autumn, and we will ask for and,I am convinced, get the vaccine, but certainly among the last in the world – emphasized the President of the Republic.

- We started everything in only a few days – everything started on 18 July. In 13, 14 days we had the contract signed, the cornerstone laid and the prospect of having the hospital completed in four months’ time. On 1 December we will open a magnificent hospital here – completed and equipped, and those are fantastic results. That was never possible in Serbia before. I would like to thank the people of “Termomont”, an exceptional company that has already built a small Covid hospital at the Karaburma“ Military Medical Centre, small compared to this one. I am certain that everything will be completed on time and that we will do an enormous job – said President Vučić, announcing the construction of another, smaller but equally high-quality Covid hospital in Kruševac, and that these are great things for Serbia.

At the end of his address, the President wished the workers a lot of success and another victory on behalf of the whole of Serbia and “may we celebrate together the opening of a wonderful hospital that will save many lives and make many families in Serbiahappy”.

The Ministry of Defence provided an appropriate location out of the land used by that Ministry, and it is a location of 1 hectare and 58 acres, in the vicinity of two big roads, Batajnički drum and the highway. The location has excellent infrastructure support of the city waterworks and sewage, electrical and other installations. The tactical and technical requirements for the construction of the hospital were prepared by the Military Health Department in cooperation with the Ministry of Health.

The ceremony marking the beginning of the construction of the new Covid hospital was also attended by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Major General Petar Cvetković, the Head of the Military Health Department, Major General Uglješa Jovičić, the Head of the Infrastructure Department, Colonel Radmilo Kravić, Deputy Mayor of Belgrade, Goran Vesić and the CEO of the “Termomont” company, Dejan Burčul.