From pier on the Danube to great tourist attraction – will Sombor manage to collect funds for construction of marina, ethno-village, recreation complex…?

Reconstruction of smaller of the two piers for passenger and freight ships on the Danube near Bezdan should start soon because the city of Sombor has recently obtained 1m RSD from the Republic budget out of total of 8m RSD that are needed for the completion of that part of the project. As the CEO of the Tourism Organization of Sombor, Eleonora Cvejić, explained for eKapija, the financial structure for reconstruction of the pier has not been closed yet, but the city of Sombor does not have any deadline to meet, so that it will keep applying for the funds from the republic and provincial funds.

According to the words of Eleonora Cvejić, total of 373,000 EUR has been invested in this project from year 2005 to the date. In that way, 215,000 EUR was set aside from NIP for the procurement of 2 piers in Hungary, while the city of Sombor and the Province invested 38,000 EUR and 120,000 EUR, respectively, in organization of the approaches to the piers, organization of horticulture and coastal area.

- We have bought one small and one large pier in Hungary. The Danube is very deep at the place where the piers are to be installed (the 1425th kilometer), which makes it possible for us to receive large ships as well. Since our aim is to offer full package of services to the tourists, the following activities are in the pipeline: construction of reception center for tourists, adaptation of the Museum of Batinska battle, opening of commemorative room, as well as info center for tourists, souvenir shop, coffee shop and restaurant. We want people who use these piers and spend some time of the territory of Sombor to have fun and to be able to see and buy something… –Eleonora Cvejić explains.

According to the Master plan for development of “Gornje Podunavlje“, which was designed by the Faculty of Economy in Belgrade and company Horvat Consulting, besides piers and reception center for tourists, marina and ethno-village with about 20 bungalows and 100 beds should also be built in that place, and the value of the investment is estimated at 100m EUR.

- The investment is, indeed, large and the financial structure has not been closed yet, but we would like one such complex to be owned by the City. That is why we do not want to allot construction of any part of the complex to local or foreign private investors. We will keep applying for the funds and we’ll see... – says Eleonora Cvejić at the end of the statement for eKapija.