Awaiting government's consent to start port construction in Apatin - Agrifert-Nika consortium and municipality ready for first project in RTC Apatin

(Apatin)

After a series of meetings dedicated to the construction of an international cargo port within the Freight Shipping Center (Robno-Transportni Centar - RTC) in Apatin, the interested parties have not gone further than negotiations. The municipality is ready for this project, and so is the Swiss-Serbian consortium Agrifert-Nika. However, as people at this municipality on the Danube explained to eKapija, the problem lies in administration on the republic level.

- When it comes to a container handling port, we signed a preliminary agreement on its construction with Denmark's Agrifert. The Ministry of Economy's commission was supposed to issue a document certifying that the public-private partnership we agreed upon with the consortium was socially justified. However, the commission fell apart, and a new one has never been formed. We now only wait for the new ministry to issue that document to start implementing this important project - Zivorad Smiljanic, mayor of Apatin, says in a talk with eKapija.

As a proof of the consortium's determination, a USD 10 million bank guarantee has been submitted to confirm that Agrifert has the required funds for such project, says the mayor of this municipality in Backa.

According to Smiljanic, the port of Apatin will be the only port in Serbia to have a 110-hectare duty-free zone in its hinterland, which is why its construction is expected to attract a large number of foreign and domestic investors.

(Zivorad Smiljanic)

- Whether or not our municipality is going to attract new investors depends on the construction of this port because the freight shipping center represents our chance for development. A precondition for the arrival of investors is to build the port. Construction of a road terminal should also kick off as soon as we receive the ministry's consent for the public-private partnership – our interlocutor announces.

The value of this complex comprising the Freight Shipping Center, road terminal and a port on the Danube is estimated at about EUR 25 million, and it could employ 2,000 workers.

One of the first investments in RTC Apatin is the Apatin Brewer's wastewater treatment plant worth EUR 6 million. Construction of this facility should start very soon.

The brewery signed an agreement in April with the Apatin municipality, Nas Dom and the Development Directorate to purchase 1.6 hectares of city building land for RSD 56.2 million to build a new wastewater treatment plant on it.

- A tender has already been launched, so that we expect the construction of that plant to commence very soon.

Calzedonia in Apatin?

Representatives of the Italian textile company Calzedonia, which produces underwear, have visited Apatin and talked with Mayor Zivorad Smiljanic and his associates about the construction of a factory within the complex of the Freight Shipping Center Apatin.

- Calzedonia has brought an Italian company that wants to open a large wool dye house and spinning mill. Their wish is to build a factory within RTC, in which about EUR 25 million would be invested over the next five years. That factory would employ 405 textile workers. In order to implement that project, they require an area spanning about 6 hectares. They have got all the information they needed, and now we wait for them to decide whether to invest in Apatin - the mayor explains.

S.O.