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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

RSD 24.2m in state aid paid out to citizens affected by storm

Belgrade, 8 August 2023

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic announced today that RSD 24.2 million in state aid has been paid out to date for the reconstruction of damaged facilities owned by citizens due to the effects of floods and stormy weather during May and June.

In a joint address to the public with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Palace of Serbia, Brnabic pointed out that part of the claims of citizens from Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Cacak and Svilajnac had been paid, and that the decisions on the payment of compensation for damage issued in Arandjelovac will be paid tomorrow.

She stated that at the moment there are still 308 reports on the damage that are being verified at the Ministry of Public Investment, noting that they will be processed quickly.

She added that 21 local self-governments have not yet submitted the documentation for verification, and a meeting will be held with their representatives tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, in order to see what the problem is.

The Prime Minister recalled that due to the floods in May, June and July, 63 local self-governments declared a state of emergency in Serbia, and that the state of emergency is still in effect in 31 municipalities.

Brnabic stated that in the period from 19 to 22 July, a storm hit the territory of the Republic, when 13 local self-governments declared a state of emergency.

She reiterated that the two absolute priorities are the rehabilitation of households and schools, so that children could start the school year unimpededly from September 1.

At the moment, the priority is the reconstruction of elementary schools in Trgoviste and Raca, which will start in the coming days, while the kindergartens in Cuprija and Arandjelovac will be completely reconstructed, she underlined.

The priority is also to speed up the damage reporting process after the storm in order to compensate people, build new houses where they should be built and new schools and kindergartens in the places where they are completely destroyed, said Brnabic.

She pointed out that the second focus she wants to talk about and what is particularly important to her is the information technology sector, which has become one of the engines of our country's development.

We have started preparing rapidly for Expo 2027, where we will present the whole of Serbia as a country of innovation, modern technologies and one of the leaders in Europe in the areas such as artificial intelligence," explained the Prime Minister.

RSD 24.2m in state aid paid out to citizens affected by storm

She mentioned five areas that are in focus in the coming period, namely autonomous cars, i.e. driverless cars, Bio4 campus as one of the biggest projects of this government, science and technology parks, the continuation of investment in Kragujevac and the development of artificial intelligence.

The Prime Minister stated that a month ago, the first license for a driverless car of Level 3 was issued in Serbia, which means that the driver is in the driver's seat, but does not control the car's controls.

We are one of the first five countries to do so. Our goal is to have that maximum Level 5 by 2027, which means a fully autonomous vehicle and that during our Expo 2027 all vehicles within this specialised exhibition be driverless electric vehicles, Brnabic stated and said that the goal is for Serbia be the first in Europe in this field.

The Prime Minister announced that preparatory works on the Bio4 campus will begin in November, so that during Expo 2027 which will be held in Serbia, we will have the largest part of the campus ready and occupied.

According to her, more than 5,000 scientists, students and professors will work there, and we have cooperation agreements signed with some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic pointed out that according to the "Serbia 2020-2025" programme, it is clear that we are on the right track despite problems, and added that now the development plan of our country until 2027 has been completely changed, and that the implementation of the plans is starting immediately.

One of the projects that will contribute to this is Expo 2027 and thanks to it, Belgrade will get a completely new face in next four years, which will be used for the further progress and development of Serbia, said Vucic.

This will mean a huge quantum leap for our country's economy, it will contribute to growth and an increase in salaries and pensions, the President emphasised, adding that everything must be completed before the end of 2026.

The President stated that all the projects planned to be done in next four years will cost approximately €12 billion, not counting those for which the money has already been secured.