Lapovo

Lapovo

Лапово
Lapovo Лапово
Municipality and Town
	Town center
	Coat of arms
	Location of the municipality of Lapovo within Serbia
Country	Serbia
District	Šumadija
Settlements	2
Government
• Mayor	Nebojsa Miletic (DS)
Area
• Municipality	55 km2 (21 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)
• Town	7 147
• Municipality	7 837
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	34220
Area code	+381 34
Car plates	KG
Website	www.lapovo.org

Lapovo (Serbian Cyrillic: Лапово) is a municipality located in the central part of Serbia and in east part of Šumadija district which it belongs to and extends to 5,522 acres. The population of the town is 7,837 according to 2011 census.^[3]

History

The first mention of Lapovo dates from the 12th century when Stefan Nemanja conquered region of Lepenica from Bizanthy. More accurate information about Lapovo's existence came after the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 while duke Mihailo or MIhalj was running the estate in today’s region of Lapovo.

The Charter of Princess Milica from 1395 mentions landed property of Duke Mihajlo in Hlapova plain, Lapovo today, on the basis of which we^[who?] can conclude that Lapovo is a village which has a medieval origin.^{[citation needed]} After the liberation from the Turks, a rapid development of Lapovo began, primarily thanks to its favourable geostrategic position. In 1896 Lapovo was declared for the town by decree of King Aleksandar Obrenovic. Municipality of Lapovo is located at Corridor 10, at the intersection of highway Belgrade-Nis. Lapovo also represents one of the most important railway hubs, on the railway line Belgrade-Nis-Athens. Lapovo is currently in a phase of economical development, which is accompanied by the appearance of a large number of national and foreign investors.

Lapovo industrial zone

Lapovo free zone has been formed between international highway E-5 Belgrade-Nis and railroad tracks 108 km from Belgrade. Quadrature of the zone is approximately 80 hectares with possibility of further enlargement. Because of its attractive geographical location, developed transport infrastructure of Lapovo, many foreign firms and companies are coming to Lapovo with the aim to build their factories, offices etc. in this area.

One of the first Greenfield investments in Lapovo is "Kronospan Srb", an Austrian company of board materials. According to estimates of the Agency for Foreign Investments (SIEPA), it is one of the largest direct investments in 2009, not only by the value of the investment, but also by the number of new job positions.^{[citation needed]} A modern communal sanitary landfill^{[clarification needed]} "Vrbak" which was built according to the most modern ecological standards was opened in Lapovo. The investment itself was entrusted to the Group ASA which is headquartered in Czech Republic. Form a Ideale, Wacker Neuson Kramer, Hodlemayer, Logist Centre, Tir base DW Oil, Eling, International fine arts and sports camp (ECPD and OUN), Rehabilitation centre with geothermal mineral water (Humanitarian organization from France) also expressed their intention to invest in the Municipality of Lapovo.

The basis for the formation of industrial zones and for attracting foreign investors was created by adopting the Master Plan "Lapovo 2020". Economy in Lapovo consists of the construction company GIK "1. maj" which is in the process of revitalization after the privatization of this enterprise and also 44 enterprises and 245 private entrepreneurs according to statistical data of APR. The backbone of the economy is small and medium enterprises who employ a large number of workers from the territory of Lapovo.

In 2006 businessmen from Lapovo founded "The Association of Private Entrepreneurs". Better contact among the Municipality of Lapovo, businessmen from the territory of the municipality and potential national and foreign investors is expected through establishing an Office for local economic development in Lapovo. The Municipality of Lapovo is a member of the National alliance for local economic development and it is in the process of certification of municipalities. Through this certification the Municipality of Lapovo would become the ninth municipality town in Serbia with a favourable business environment. This would open the way for Lapovo to European accession funds and to the development of the municipality itself. It is important to mention that Lapovo is also a unique open-air museum. In Lapovo a good portion of the population lived and still lives by working on the railway. Combining tradition and the present, the decision of the Municipal Assembly of Lapovo declared Lapovo as "Town-railway museum". Every year on 14 October, the International Exhibition of Artists is held in Lapovo.^{[citation needed]}