"Work-free Sunday? All right, go to those countries"

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, is visiting the newly opened AFT factory.

Source: B92, Tanjug Friday, 21.05.2021. | 15:49

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FOTO TANJUG/ RADE PRELIC/ nr

"It is unbelievable to see a factory in Priboj after 40 years," the president said during the tour.

As he added, spouses Selma and Samir Rustemović are responsible for many things.

"I will especially thank Dirk and Jens who invested money and did this, our German friends. Selma pushes with energy like a bulldozer, and Samir plays his part," he said jokingly.

"It's hard work, but a secure future"

At the moment, he says, there are between 160 and 200 people employed there.

"There will be 400 people in this place alone, and we hope that they will start thinking about another plant here in Priboj", Vucic said.

70% of employees are women. The building has 6.300 square meters. Here, as Vučić says, there is a culture of the automobile industry.

"It is a difficult job, but a secure future for every family," the president said.

The factory was built on an area of 15.000 square meters, and the value of the investment is 6 million euros.

Work-free Sunday?

According to him, they are "good people, smart, who love Priboj".

"And here Dirk comes and sleeps. How did you think the German was making money? Hardworking people, dedicated people, people whose job is to secure good life - that's the only way they can move forward. And not just looking for another day off. When I hear those ideas that Sunday should be a non-working day, Saturday should be a non-working day, Friday should be a non-working day - maybe, go to those countries, and in Serbia it must be a working day, so that we can catch up with those who are thinking about work-free days today", he said.

He adds that work must be done and that those who do not like it should change ruling coalition, "there are no problems at all".

He reiterated that the road from Kokino Brod to Priboj will be built.

"It is a 26-27-kilometer difficult road. It will be a top road," Vucic announced.

As he later pointed out, he listened carefully to Mr. Kramer, who said that this was not the last plant in Priboj.

"So, there will be more plants, more people will be employed," he said.

"It was difficult to bring investors to Priboj"

Vučić thanked the people of Priboj who believed in their city, but also everyone who worked on this project.

"The state used to invest in Priboj, in the time of the great Yugoslavia, because, among other things, few people from abroad wanted to come. Only those who did not do that do not know how difficult it was to bring investors to Priboj, how much energy was invested , effort, work ... ", he noted.

He says that we need to reindustrialize the entire region of Serbia.

"For people to start believing that it is possible to work, not to go to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but to stay here in their Priboj, in their Serbia. We will also build railways, we will build roads faster than has ever been done in the history of Serbia. We can do that because we implemented difficult reforms in 2014 and 2015 and because people in Serbia began to believe in success," he said.

Although Prijepolje is bigger than Priboj, now the people of Prijepolje are coming to Priboj, because they can find a job there, said Vučić.

He says that Priboj is known for FAP and that the city has a good workforce, good knowledge and tradition in the automotive industry. Више о овом изворном тексту За додатне информације о превођењу треба вам изворни текст

Бочне табле

"The Valley of Hunger"

The president of the municipality of Priboj, Lazar Rvović, said that today he is proud to be from Priboj, emphasizing that Priboj used to have the lowest salaries and the highest percentage of unemployed citizens, while now the situation is different.

"I will go back to 2013, when Aleksandar Vučić visited us and promised to help us. In 2013, the situation seemed hopeless, journalists called the city a 'valley of hunger'. Today we have Priboj advancing. What we understood in time is that the main advantage of Priboj lies in its people, dedicated, hardworking people", Rvović said.

AFT owner Dirk Kramer thanked everyone for their tremendous support.

"This is a wonderful place, so I chose it for the factory. We are a classic medium-size enterprise, a supplier to the automobile industry," he said.