The reconstruction and the restauration of the Gardoš Tower of Zemun have been completed. The cost of the entire project had been estimated at 34 million dinars, with the Ministry of Justice having spent 12 million dinars of the so-called ‘opportunity funds’ (non-expensed prosecution budget due to non-opportune cases) for the project.
Ministry of Justice State Secretary Mr Mirko Čikiriz noted that completing the project was not only important for Zemun and Belgrade but also Serbia’s cultural heritage. ‘It has been a great pleasure to partner with the City of Belgrade and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications for this project. In four years, the Ministry of Justice has supported 450 projects of social importance spending 1.6 billion dinars of opportunity funds’, the State Secretary explained, adding that the Ministry of Justice would continue to finance important projects of common good for the state and all its citizens using opportunity funds.
Deputy Mayor of Belgrade Mr Goran Vesić added that the Gardoš Tower restauration project had also been financed by the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications (12 million dinars) and the City of Belgrade (10 million dinars). ‘On behalf of the City of Belgrade, I would like to thank Ministers Nela Kuburović and Rasim Ljajić and their associates for having recognised the need to support this wonderful joint project”, Mr Vesić stated.
Director of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments Ms Olivera Vučković explained that the Gardoš Tower was one of the first sites to be declared a cultural monument in Serbia which brought pride because it had been preserved as such.
Since 2016, the Ministry of Justice has been regularly running the competition for the award of opportunity funds for projects of public interest (in the areas of health, culture, education, humanitarian work, etc.). In 2019, the fourth consecutive year of the competition for which the Ministry had allocated 470 million dinars, 150 projects were submitted. Of those, 65 were submitted by schools and pre-schools, 35 by health institutes, 22 concerned social welfare and 11 were culture projects.