Eyemaxx ready to build logistics centers in Nis and Stara Pazova - Why do Austrians postpone "huge" investments in Serbia for 4th consecutive year

(logistics center, Nis)

It is usually calm before the storm. At the moment, people in Nis and the south of Serbia hope that to be true. Namely, three and a half years after a protocol was signed, Austria's Eyemaxx has again contacted municipal authorities recently to finally resolve a problem of building land for a logistics center within Konstantin Veliki Airport in Nis.

Due to a financial crisis, the start of this project has been postponed several times. However, the company Eyemaxx Management sent a new Letter of Intent to the mayor of Nis on August 6th, specifying that the total value of the investment would amount to EUR 61.3 million and that the employment of 400 people was in the pipeline.

For aforementioned investment, Austrians need a land spanning 26.4 hectares, whereas the estimated maximum size of the logistics center is 136,000 sqm.

The city reacted by ordering the design of a study on the feasibility of building land lease and set 1 September 2012 as the deadline to finish the design.

As Ljiljana Radovanovic from Eyemaxx's branch office in Belgrade explains to eKapija, as soon as this study is adopted by the City Assembly and the Serbian government, meaning that a proposal for the alienation of land below the market price or free of charge is accepted, they will start the construction.

- We are already ready, so that the construction could start the same day we get the land and all required permits - says eKapija's interlocutor.

The plan is to finish the project implementation within maximum five years.

As Nis Mayor Zoran Perisic told Politika, everybody in that city is very interested in this investment because a logistics center would surely contribute to the affirmation of the airport in Nis and, thus, also significantly affect the development of passenger traffic at Konstantin Veliki Airport.

- The construction and opening of a cargo center would benefit the whole economy, agriculture in particular. Farmers in central, south and southeast Serbia would get a unique opportunity to export their products from the rich Pomoravlje region to Europe and rest of the world - says Perisic.

Stara Pazova after Nis

Nis is not the only city in Serbia in which the Austrian company is looking to invest. Namely, Eyemaxx also owns a land in Novi Banovci, on the territory of the municipality of Stara Pazova, which this company bought few years ago.

A logistics center with all accompanying facilities, modeled after the ones this Austrian company operates across Europe, would span nearly 240,000 sqm.

Although it was earlier announced that the company could invest about EUR 300 million in this project, people at Eyemaxx say to our web portal that it is currently not possible to estimate the value of this investment, adding that it will be a "really big amount."

As they explain, the company still waits for a location permit to start the construction of a logistics center in Novi Banovci.

First logistics, then shopping