Belgrade-based "Napred" builds entertainment-trade center worth 45m USD in Russian city of Siktikvar, construction at -40C

Company "Napred" has commenced construction works on the entertainment-trade center at 35,000 square meters in Russian city of Siktikvar and, according to the contract that was signed in the Embassy of Serbia to Moscow at the end of August 2008, the works should be finished in 20 months. The value of the project is 45m USD.

- The idea of Russian company "Megaalijansa", which is the investor of this project, was to have a complex with various contents built in city of Siktikvar, which has 350,000 citizens and is about 1.5 h of flying away from Moscow. The complex will include retail units, six modern cinema halls, fast food restaurants, sports and entertainment contents, as well as suites on the top of the facility - says Miladin Đurović, the CEO of "Napred" in Russia, adding that the investment is backed by the loans of Hungarian banks.

Đurović points out that "Napred", which is the general contractor, will hire minimum 20 workers from Serbia, mainly carpenters and plumbers, for the needs of this project. Subcontractors are Belgrade-based companies "Svetlost" and "Janko Lisjak". The architects of "Napred" also draw plans for electric and mechanical installations.

(Miladin Đurović)

There will be no procurement of specific equipment, says Đurović, because "Napred" operates for a long time in accordance with the standards and requests of Russian investors and it owns the state-of-the-arts technology.

- We were first thinking about organizing our own production of concrete on the building site, but we gave up that idea because there is plenty of local factories that produce concrete and, on the other hand, such operations demand serious preparations, as well as delivery of the heating generator since the temperatures are so low - says Đurović.

According to the earlier statement of Irina Šorina, the CEO of "Megaalijans", the investors decided to entrust construction works with the Serbian company because they believe that "Napred" will do the job on time and in a quality way.

Đurović says that the company has a great reputation in Russian market and that they have no doubt that the works will be completed on time, but he also says that the job is not simple at all.

- Construction of the entertainment-trade center in Siktikvar is a very demanding project. Anticipated consumption of concrete amounts to 20 cubic meters and works will be carried out at the temperatures of -40C. It's been snowing in the north since the end of august and snow will started to melt in June - Đurović explains and adds that "Napred" has experience with work in such conditions concerning the fact that it's been operating in Siberia for years and that it is familiar with all the technologies.

Company "Napred" has recently started realization of hotel-trade center in Pereslavie (64 ha), which should be finished prior to June 2010, so that the works on these two projects will be carried out simultaneously. According to the words of Đurović, one of the projects that "Napred" is especially proud of was the construction of trade complex at 60,000 square meters in Novosibirs, the city in Siberia, which was completed two years ago.

- After that complex, we have built another 3 or 4 residential-business facilities and about 60 of our workers are currently employed in this city – says Đurović and adds that Novosibirsk is the third largest city in Russia with about 2m citizens.

Đurović explains that Russia currently has less construction works underway than it had in 2007 because the capital of Russian banks is expensive, while foreign investments are not present to a satisfying extent.

Local building companies are slowly entering Russian market, but their number is currently insignificant.

(One of the facilities in Pereslavie)

- The biggest problems are lack of experience and the bsence of references demanded by Russian investors. The competition is tough, but "Napred" proved itself on several occasions and it always left only satisfied clients behind - says Đurović who lives in Russia 17 years and he started his career in this country by working for company "BK Inžinjering".

Building company "Napred" was founded in 1948 for the needs of the Army and it gradually grew into a modern company that is capable of applying up-to-date technologies and systems of building. During several decades of existence, "Napred" has built facilities in 10 countries on 3 continents.