SELF-EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS HANDED OVER TO UNEMPLOYED NOVI SAD’S CITIZENS

Since 2013, the City of Novi Sad, in collaboration with the National Employment Service, has been implementing a self-employment programme through a competition of the City Administration for the Economy, in order to support unemployed people from Novi Sad who would like to start their own business, in the form of subsidies.

Agreements were given out to beneficiaries who, in response to a public call, obtained subsidies for self-employment in 2023 by Novi Sad Deputy Mayor Igor Crnobarac and City Council member for the Economy Milorad Radojević.

Novi Sad's Deputy Mayor, Igor Crnobarac, noted that 969 unemployed people on the records of the Novi Sad branch of the National Employment Service have received a total of 268,255,000 RSD for self-employment, which demonstrates the City's stability as a local self-government with a budget that permits ongoing increases in subsidies and support for its citizens.

- We are happy that approximately a thousand people have launched their own businesses in the past ten years as a result of this incentive programme. This year, 151 unemployed people received 59.5 million RSD in budgetary support for self-employment; the subsidies varied in value from 300 to 400 thousand RSD. The high level of interest in this competition demonstrates the need for us to support our fellow citizens who launch their own businesses and to increase allocations for that purpose – Igor Crnobarac said and added - Since 2016, special funds have been set aside from the City budget to support the growth of female entrepreneurship in order to uphold the principle of gender sensitivity. 388 unemployed women have benefited from grants for self-employment at this point because of this initiative. Therefore, throughout the course of the last ten years, 1,357 of our fellow citizens have received 368,255,000 RSD from the City of Novi Sad for self-employment.

Borislava Milić, who received funding for research and experimental development in biotechnology, spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries. She thanked the City of Novi Sad for the subsidies, stressing that such incentives and support mean a lot during first steps, which are also most difficult, when establishing a company.

Novi Sad, 6th December 2023