On Thursday, 1 July 2010, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, visited the Municipality of Apatin.

The Speaker was received by the President of the Municipality of Apatin, Dr Zivorad Smiljanic, at the Apatin Municipality Building, who informed the Speaker of the municipality’s activities.

Unveiling the bronze figure Young Woman With a Pitcher, the work of the Macedonian sculptor academician Toma Serafimski, cast at the Jeremic broters’ art studio, the NARS Speaker declared the construction work on the new shopping mall-town market open. The town market is being constructed on the site of the former Partizan sports complex, after almost 50 years of waiting.

On the occasion, Djukic-Dejanovic expressed pleasure that Apatin, headed by its local self-government authorities, is among the first in Serbia to launch a private-public partnership. “I am very pleased that the Young Woman With a Pitcher is the symbol of the town market and therefore to you, the citizens of Apatin, I wish that the future development of the Apatin Municipality flows unhindered, like water”, said the Speaker.

The Speaker added: “My visit to Apatin has I hope, been an encouragement not only for the citizens of Apatin, but for others as well who intend to continue investing and turning their town into an environment conducive to the improvement of the quality of life of all its citizens”.

The new shopping mall is being constructed by private company DOO Kovacevic, with the Apatin Municipality as the public partner, which contributed the construction site in its possession and invested into a concrete investment construction with a private employer.