Žana Gamoš: Responsible management and investments go hand in hand

As part of Lider Invest in Osijek, a round table was held on the topic 'Creating a positive investment environment and financing investments in eastern Croatia', with participants including Žana Gamoš, Deputy Mayor of the City of Osijek, Nataša Tramišak, Head of the Department for Investments, Development Projects and European Union Funds of the Osijek-Baranja County, Denis Ostrošić, Mayor of Slatina, and Tomislav Rob, Mayor of Beli Manastir.

The first question posed to the panelists was how cities will recover from the situation that has affected us over the last three months.

– It is important to emphasize that the projects currently underway are not suffering. Regarding Beli Manastir, our budget varies… in 2016 it was around 37 million and now it is over 100 million, while we are in a deficit of 5 million kuna. In terms of assistance to entrepreneurs during the crisis, we have exempted them from fees, such as utility fees and payments for city spaces. We see that positivity is slowly returning – said Tomislav Rob.

The Mayor of Slatina, Denis Ostrošić, stated that they learned several things during the crisis.

– Everything was done as responsibly as possible, we quickly started with measures, but we also cut investments in civil society to free up certain funds, but we will return that as soon as we can. In the next seven years, we have a strategy and the plan is to invest between 550 and 700 million kuna – said Ostrošić, adding that the time of crisis has shown how important digitalization is and that everything should be done in that direction.

Nataša Tramišak, Head of the Department for Investments, Development Projects and European Union Funds of the Osijek-Baranja County, explained how they helped entrepreneurs during the pandemic and what entrepreneurs can expect in the upcoming period.

– The county is intensively working on utilizing EU funds, as every investment, especially public ones, depends on EU funds. Tax reform has been implemented, which is why city budgets have increased, which has proven to be good as those funds could also go to entrepreneurs. The county has secured support for the entrepreneurship and agriculture sector of over 13 million kuna. We are also preparing support programs that the state has not covered – said Tramišak.

The panel also discussed that Osijek is becoming the IT center of Croatia, with significant investments occurring in that sector, and a new campus is under construction.

– Osijek has been leading a responsible financial policy for many years, especially when it comes to managing funds. Last year we finished with a surplus of 24 million kuna, which is the result of long-term planning – said Gamoš, adding that Osijek is already the IT center of Croatia.

The IT park project is worth 35 million kuna and is in realization, followed by the campus project with an investment of one and a half billion kuna.
– Responsible management and investments go hand in hand – concluded Gamoš.

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