Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said today during the laying of a cornerstone for the Regional Science Park in Krusevac that €16 million will be invested in that project, adding that the works will be completed in October 2025.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said today during the laying of a cornerstone for the Regional Science Park in Krusevac that €16 million will be invested in that project, adding that the works will be completed in October 2025.
Brnabic congratulated Krusevac and the people of Krusevac for practically joining the ranks of cities such as Belgrade, Novi Sad, Cacak, Nis and Kragujevac, which will have a science park.
Krusevac may have an even greater obligation and responsibility, which is to make this a regional centre for advanced technologies, for advanced industry, for the entire development district and beyond, said Brnabic.
The Prime Minister pointed out that she was in Krusevac on St Vitus Day in 2021, at the request of the then mayor Bratislav Gasic, and added that it was then that the idea of a regional science park in Krusevac was born, the construction of which began in just two and a half years.
The day when you start something new is always important. And we are now starting to build another one of those projects that we promised to the whole of Serbia and our entire people within the plan "Serbia 2027 - Leap into the Future", said the Prime Minister.
She said that she is sure that everything that was promised will be fulfilled by the end of 2027 and that it will ensure that life in Serbia is even better and of a higher quality.
And this is one of the important projects that we have to do in order to reach the goals we promised to our country and our people, she underlined.
Brnabic noted that it is possible for Serbia to be one of the most successful countries in Europe.
We can be that. Serbia has that inside of her. Our people have that inside of themselves, Brnabic stated.
Mayor of Krusevac Ivan Manojlovic said that the construction of the Regional Science Park in Krusevac is a huge thing for the entire Rasina District.
And what is especially important, which is really a multi-decade need of the Rasina district, is that Krusevac and the Rasina district will get a semi-open fair space for the first time so that we can present the economy, products and services of our district in an adequate and modern way, said the mayor of Krusevac.
Regional Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the Western Balkans Matteo Colangeli said that the opening of the new science park is an important achievement for the innovation ecosystem in Serbia.
We are proud to be part of this project. Through a loan of €18 million, we invested in three science and technology parks in Nis, Cacak and Krusevac, as well as the financing of the BIO 4 campus in Belgrade, Colangeli said.
Colangeli pointed out that the EBRD will support the innovation ecosystem in Serbia, as well as the development of young talent, with an emphasis on female innovators.
This is a big project for us, a big year for us in Serbia, in which we invested €850 million. For the first time, Serbia was one of the first five recipients of the EBRD global innovation and we are proud of that, Colangeli emphasised and added that creating opportunities in smaller cities gives young entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop in their city.
With the laying of the cornerstone, the construction of the Regional Science Park in Krusevac begins, which will cover an area of 10,000 square metres in the industrial zone.
Krusevac Science Park will be located on the site of the former administration building of the "Zupa" Chemical Industry in Dedina and will span 1.6 hectares, where the main building, conference rooms and 39 business modules will be located, intended for the work of technology and research companies for more than 200 users.
In the second part, 14 production modules of 280 square metres each are planned, and the total area of the hall is about 4,000 square metres.
The ceremonial laying of the cornerstone was also attended by Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation Jelena Begovic, Minister of the Interior Bratislav Gasic and Director of the Krusevac Business Incubator Centre Martina Manojlovic.
In June of last year, a loan agreement and a project agreement between the government of the Republic of Serbia and the EBRD were signed in the Serbian government, which secured €80 million, of which €70 million will be earmarked for the construction of science parks in Cacak, Nis and Krusevac, and the other €10 million for the construction of the BIO 4 campus in Belgrade.