13.06.2020.
After 40 years, a new factory opens in Kuršumlija
Minister Vulin: Serbian Defence Industry shows how precious it is to preserve it
The Envoy of the President of the Republic and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, AleksandarVučić, the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin and the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Milan Mojsilović attended today the opening of a new production plant as part of the first phase of the construction of the Metal Machining Factory within the Serbian Defence Industry’s “Complex Combat Systems Ltd“ Factory in Pljakovo near Kuršumlija.
It is an investment worth 8.5 million euros for completing the first phase which includes the construction of the facility and the equipment. The new facilities, whose total area is about three thousand square metres, employ 80 people, and in the next two years, after the completion of the planned construction works, it is expected that another 300 workers will be employed. The new plant of the “Complex Combat Systems Ltd” Factory in Kuršumlija was constructed based on the expressed need for the production of larger series of “Miloš” armoured fighting vehicles.After the visit, on behalf of the President of the Republic and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, Minister Vulin congratulated all the citizens of Kuršumlija, all the employees of the Jugoimport-SDPR Company and all the citizens of Serbia on opening the first plant in Kuršumlija after 40 years.
- When Aleksandar Vučić became the Minister of Defence in 2012, Serbian Defence Industry was on the verge of being written off, it was on the verge of being sold or closed down. In 2012, President Vučić decided that the entire country would do whatever it took for the Serbian Defence Industry to start working again, to start competing on the world market, to start employing our citizens. Today we can see how successful we are, how far-reaching that decision was, today we can see that it was the right decision. The Serbian Defence Industry is ours, it is Serbian, it employs Serbian workers, it invests in Serbia and it uses Serbian wits and knowledge to compete on the world market with the biggest an the most complex systems in the world – Minister Vulin pointed out.
The Minister of Defence pointed out that Serbian Defence Industry shows in this way how precious and important it is to preserve it, how important it is that it is there.
- The Serbian Armed Forces are happy to see that our defence industry is able to produce the most complex combat systems. When one’s armed forces are equipped with assets produced by one’s own factories, when the equipment, assets, weapons and equipment are produced by our wits and our workers, then every allocated dinar, every dinar that stays in Serbia, will help people live better, it will help them stay here and create their own Serbia. I firmly share President Vučić's conviction that Serbia should be militarily neutral, that it should be independent, capable of defending itself. But in order to be neutral, independent and capable, it must have an industry which is capable of equipping and arming it. Thank you for what you will do, and for what you have already done, thank you for your effort, patience, determination and thank you for believing in your country and for having been there for it in difficult times. Now your country is there for you – Minister Vulin pointed out.He said that these are days of development, days of struggle to preserve peace and stability, and if we preserve that, there will be many more factories like this one.
- It all depends on us, we decide for ourselves – Minsiter Vulin concluded.
According to Jugoslav Petković, the Director of the Jugoimport-SDPR Company, today is a big holiday for Kuršumlija, because after almost 40 years, a new production plant is being opened in Kuršumlija.
- This is a big day. There are 80 new employees, but in a year’s time, there will be twice as many, and at the end of the third phase, hopefully, more than 300 employees – said Petković and welcomed the new employees to the “family of the Jugoimport-SDPR workers”.
As he pointed out, since 2012, when they took on the responsibility, they started along the road set by the Government and the then Minister of Defence, the current President of the Republic, and that was the road “in one direction only”.- His vision was clear - that through the creation of new jobs, through the growth of economy and industry, we can make progress and that it is not enough for Serbia to just win in sports, but that we can be the best in the growth of gross domestic product, that we can be the best in knowledge, diligence and effort. As you can see, we have put that vision into action and one of those achievements is this factory. And there were many of them; we achieved victory after victory, opened factory after factory - concluded Director Petković.
According to the President of the Municipality of Kuršumlija, Radoljub Vidić, in July last year, president Vučić launched the initiative and managed to convince the management of Jugoimport-SDPR to start the construction of the factory in Kuršumlija.
Vidić says that the cornerstone for the construction of the factory was laid on 12 October, and adds that this period was also marked by two months of a state of emergency.
- This is how it is done in Serbia when President Aleksandar Vučić is in charge. We are now proudly standing in this beautiful factory, which is really the future of Kuršumlija, knowing that four or five more halls like this will be built here and employ about 300 workers - said Vidić, emphasizing that in the past eight years, a lot of infrastructure projects have been implemented with the help of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
Sanja Miljković from Kuršumlija, who decided to live and build her career in this town, also addressed the gathering on behalf of the employees.
- I am thrilled that today, on behalf of all the citizens of Kuršumlija, I can thank you for giving us the opportunity to start working in the new "Complex Combat Systems” Factory here in Kuršumlija. I would like to convey to our President, AleksandarVučić, profound gratitude of all my colleagues and fellow citizens, for making it possible for us to continue to live and develop right here. We are ready to justify your trust with our optimism and willingness to work - said Sanja Miljković.During today's visit, the factory management presented the production program to the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the General Staff, as well as the next phases of the development of that plant. The "Lazar" armoured vehicle and the "Milos" armoured fighting vehicle with crews consisting of the members of the Serbian Armed Forces, equipped with new combat equipment were also presented.
The opening of the new production plant was attended by the Assistant Minister for Material Resources Nenad Miloradović, PhD, State Secretary Bojan Jocić and Deputy Army Commander, Brigadier General Vladeta Baltić.
