An agreement on the alienation of public building land for free was signed yesterday in the Subotica City Hall between the City of Subotica and the Italian company Calzedonia, which is engaged in the production of stockings, swimsuits and underwear for children, women and men.

Subotica Mayor Sasa Vucinic signed the agreement on behalf of the city, whereas Francesco Ruffoli, the director of Gordon, the company founded by Calzedonia, signed it on behalf of the Italian company. The investor intends to invest about EUR 20 million in the first phase and hire about 1,000 people over the next three years.

People at Calzedonia believe in Serbia, which is why they continue to invest in the country after finishing the construction of a factory in Sombor, Ruffoli stressed, adding that he had been warmly welcomed to Subotica and that all his questions had been answered in a very short time.

He announced that the plan was to commence the construction of a 12,000-square-meter production facility in late May or early June, assessing that it would take about 10 months to finish the construction and start the production.

Sasa Vucinic said that after the agreement on the alienation of the building land had been signed, all further activities related to the construction of the factory depended on Calzedonia, that is, the company Gordon.

According to the agreement signed yesterday, Calzedonia gets about 8.5 hectares of land in the industrial zone Mali Bajmok.

If economic and market conditions allow, Calzedonia may build another factory on the same land lot and hire about 200 people.