Assessment of military brownfields POSAVJE REGION

Transcription

1 Assessment of military brownfields POSAVJE REGION by Regional Development Agency Mura and Municipality Murska Sobota F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship

2 1. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS...3 2: BROWNFIELD ANALYSIS Historical Background General Data Environmental State Landscape Value Economic Value Territorial and Economical Assets...11 CONCLUSION...14 F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 2

3 1. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS The Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute (Tehnično remontni zavod/trz Slovenska vas) is situated in the Posavje region and belongs to the Brežice Municipality. Posavje is a statistical region in the south eastern part of Slovenia, close to the national border with Croatia. It spreads along the lower current of the Sava River and its tributaries in a strategic direction from the Pannonian Plain to Po Valley. The region is comprised of the Savska dolina Valley, the eastern part of the Krška kotlina basin extending to the Sotla River, the south eastern part of the Posavje hills, the north eastern part of the Gorjanci hill range, as well as the Krško, Senovo and Brežice hills. It borders the Zasavje and Savinja regions as well as the region of south eastern Slovenia. Today, there are six municipalities in Posavje: Sevnica, Krško, Brežice and Kostanjevica na Krki, which was part of the Krško Municipality until 2006, as well as Radeče and Bistrica ob Sotli, which joined the region due to interests arising from its development in The region comprises km 2, which represents 4.77% of the entire Slovenian territory. This means it is one of the smallest Slovenian regions. 3.8% of the entire Slovenian population lives here, in a total of 443 settlements. From the economical viewpoint, this landscape is quite unevenly developed. The most developed are the lowland areas, areas accessible by traffic, and areas found along the Slovenian-Croatian border; the latter due to the proximity to the Croatian capital. The harder-to-reach and hilly landscape areas, however, are underdeveloped. Due to the small territory and a modest number of inhabitants, the region has a weak gravitational background. That is why no larger regional centre has been developed here and this function is now distributed among the municipal centres F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 3

4 of Krško and Brežice. Only four other municipal centres can be included in the category of the urban settlements; namely, Krško, Brežice, Sevnica and Radeče. To a great extent, Posavje is marked by the countryside character, especially due to natural features which are beneficial for agricultural activities that have always represented the main branch of the economy in the area. With its fertile brown soil, the lowland and flat areas of the Krško and Brežiško polje fields provide good arable land, the sunny slopes of the Krško and Bizeljsko hills are covered by orchards and vineyards, while the shady and higher hill areas are mostly covered by forests. Nevertheless, the region still features some heavily developed industry. The most important industrial town is Krško with its paper, wood, construction, metal processing, textile and food industries. Krško is followed by Sevnica with textile, metal, civil engineering, chemical and wood industries, while smaller facilities within the metal engineering industry, furniture and processing industries have developed in Brežice. Power generation is of great significance in this area. The region represents an important energy sector in Slovenia, as it produces as much as 37.9% of all electricity related requirements in Slovenia arising annually. The greatest player in this area is the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (Nuklearna elektrarna Krško) with 727 MW of power. Other energy generation facilities in the region are the Brestanica Thermal Power Plant (Termoelektrarna Brestanica) and the hydroelectric power plants located in Vrhovo, Boštanj and Blanca. The further construction of hydroelectric power plants is planned in Krško, Brežice and Mokrice. F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 4

5 Tourism, which represents a very important activity in the Brežice Municipality, is also relatively well developed in the region. The Terme Čatež Spa Resort is the primary factor of development in this sector, as it generates the most night stays in the region. Three important rivers run through the Posavje region; namely, the Sotla, the Krka and the Sava River. The Sava River represents a natural path from Central Europe towards the Balkans. The region has an important transport position, as the European Route E70, also known as Ilirika, runs through it. This is a part of the 10 th European corridor connecting the cities of Salzburg and Thessaloniki. The highway is part of the Dolenjska region highway section, and represents a link between the capital cities of Ljubljana and Zagreb. The two-track Ljubljana-Dobova-Zagreb railway is also of great significance, both for the economic development of the region as well as national and international passenger transport. The Sevnica and Dobova railway stations are also stopping stations for international trains. Posavje's national and regional network of road and railway infrastructure is relatively well developed. The region is also crossed by the third development axis connecting it with the Koroška, Savinjsko-Šaleška, Dolenjska and the Bela krajina regions. Transport connections are very important for the flow of people, cargo and information. In the Posavje region, there are also five aerodromes/sports airfields as well as a military airport in Cerklje ob Krki, the only military airport in Slovenia. Border crossings with the Republic of Croatia are also of great significance: - The Obrežje international road border crossing for passenger and commercial transport F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 5

6 - The Rigonce interstate road border crossing for passenger and freight transport - The Slovenska vas and Orešje interstate border crossings for road passenger transport - The Dobova international railway border crossing for passenger and freight transport F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 6

7 2: BROWNFIELD ANALYSIS 2.1. Historical Background After World War II, the then Soviet Union, together with other Eastern Bloc countries, stopped the supply of war materials and equipment to the newly established Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The general crisis in Yugoslavia was also reflected in the armed forces, especially in their lack of heavy artillery. Aware of the severity of the situation, the SFRY government initiated negotiations with the governments of the United States, France and Great Britain regarding the supply of weapons and other military equipment at the beginning of The negotiations were concluded in 1951, as the agreement on the supply of German weapons, vehicles and equipment was reached. In the 1950s, the armoured troops were specific in that they had a high percentage of broken down vehicles, mainly due to poorly executed overhauls and a lack of spare parts. As all military vehicles were accepted without proper documents, their history of use, age, servicing carried out, and other information were unknown. For this reason, five technical overhaul institutes were established in Yugoslavia by 1956 and operated under the framework of the Yugoslav People s Army technical service, in Čačak (est. in 1953), Bregana (est. in 1954), Hadžići and Kragujevac (est. in 1955) and Skopje (est. in 1956). This analysis focuses on the Bregana Technical Overhaul Institute (Tehnično remontni zavod Bregana) which was later renamed the Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute (TRZ Slovenska vas). F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 7

8 At the Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute, work was carried on the requirements of the Yugoslav Army, which included overhauls and repairs for all land force equipment and armament, ranging from rifles to tanks. Later on, the Institute also offered their capacities to the civil sector, whether for mechanical treatment of metal, galvanisation, whetting or repairing the civil engineering and agricultural machinery and lifts, or servicing special, freight or passenger vehicles. Among other things, the Institute also performed servicing for the Škoda, Tatra, Wartburg and TAM vehicles. In 1991, approximately 1,000 people were employed at the Institute. On 25 th June 1991, Slovenia adopted a constitutional act for the implementation of the fundamental constitutional document on the independence of the Republic of Slovenia. The Yugoslavian Federal Government declared Slovenia s independence unacceptable and, on 27 th June 1991, directed its Federal Army to the northern borders of Yugoslavia, where armed conflicts took place between members of the Federal Army and those of the Slovenian Territorial Defence. The war for the defence of Slovenia s independence ended on 6 th July Afterwards, only around 60 people remained employed at the Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute, carrying out repairs and servicing for motorised vehicles within the technical unit. Meanwhile, the Slovenian Army sold most of the facilities or leased them to companies, and that was when the Slovenska vas Commercial and Business Complex (TPC trgovsko-poslovna cona) was established. For their own requirements, the Army retained only a few facilities which are currently located in the Slovenska vas Commercial and Business Complex area. The Army finally withdrew from the Slovenska vas Commercial and Business Complex in Since then, the remaining facilities, owned by the Ministry of Defence, have been on sale through auctions. F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 8

9 2.2. General Data The Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute is situated in the Posavje region and is part of the Brežice Municipality. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence. The area is 30.5 hectares, of which 8,792 m² are taken up by buildings. The latter mostly include warehouses as well as a tank hangar, lacquering facility, two battery stations and two houses Environmental State No information available Landscape Value The location of the area per se, being a tranquil valley surrounded by beautiful natural features such as a creek with its flora and the forest, is of high quality speaking in terms of ambience. The Bregarica creek, which is approximately 1,200 metres long, is found nearby; visually complementing the features of horticultural design within the area (tree-lined alleys and parks), which enrich the existing architecturally unappealing space. There are no good quality architectonic features in the entire area. The horticultural features, however, are of extremely good quality, even though they are not maintained and look abandoned. The green patches are spread over the entire area. The remains of representative horticultural park design are still visible. Tree alleys featuring linden or chestnut trees give the landscape a special charm. Like buildings, the green areas are neglected and non-maintained too. F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 9

10 2.5. Economic Value The Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute is located in the Brežice Municipality and is 14 km away from the town of Brežice. There is an international road passenger traffic border crossing found nearby, while the Dobova international border crossing for railway passengers and freight transport is approximately 20 km away. The Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute in Slovenia is only 30 km from the Croatian capital, the city of Zagreb, and approximately 2 km from the Zagreb-Ljubljana highway, which also leads further on to Belgrade. The average age of the Institute s buildings is over 50 years. Certain buildings are of poor quality as they have lost their function and are now an obstruction to the respective area, which is why they need to be demolished and replaced with new facilities that will be more suitable in design and functionality. Since 2005, the Ministry of Defence has been selling the Technical Overhaul Institute facilities through public auctions, the latest being held on 11 th May 2010, where the starting price for all corporate buildings and courtyards amounted to 1.7 million. The Slovenska vas Commercial and Business Complex, which is located in the area of the former Breganja Technical Overhaul Institute, with the Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute situated nearby, is owned by around 20 private companies. The operation of the commercial and business complex is currently at a standstill, with only a few companies being active in the area. In 2005, an initiative for the activation of a commercial area that would attract the interested domestic and foreign investors to use the Slovenska vas Commercial and Business Complex was given. However, no concrete steps in this direction have been made so far. F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 10

11 2.6. Territorial and Economical Assets The Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute is located in the Brežice Municipality, which spreads over 268 km2 and has 24,459 inhabitants as of The number of companies in the entire Posavje region is shown in the table below. Company size Number of companies Micro 2,960 Small 98 Mid-size 19 Large 13 Sole proprietors 2,483 Most people are employed in the service sector (commerce, repairs of motorised vehicles, consumer goods, etc.), which is followed by the processing industry, civil engineering and, last but not least, the real estate business and business services. The major problem in the development of this region is the lack of investment in research both in the public and, mostly, the private sector, which results in the low level of innovation in the regional economy and a decrease in the number of value-added products and services, which in turn does not benefit the desired increase in the regional economy s competitiveness. The second F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 11

12 problem tied to the development is the lack of human resources with secondary school and university education, which will have to be resolved by employing a migration plan. In the town of Krško, which is 30 km away from the Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute, there are two university faculties: the Faculty of Energy Technology and the Faculty of Logistics. The Faculty of Tourism is planned to be established in Brežice in the next few years. Meanwhile, the major challenge is, of course, to stimulate the number of research and development activities in companies, which will be attempted by preparing and implementing development and research projects that are partly financed by the Ministry of the Economy through the European Regional Development Fund. Good quality operation of the Krško-Velenje Faculty of Energy Technology, with the main office in Krško, is also of key importance, as are the high quality of the study programme and the knowledge it offers, the Faculty promotion and recruitment of students from the entire Pan-European region, and the establishment of research and development activity in relation with the electricity industry (the construction of laboratories and establishment of an energy technology institute). Tourism is also a promising field in the Posavje region. It can be developed in a wider geographical area, with the focus on the concept of destination rather than individual municipalities where each of them follows its own policy. In 2007, we launched the first organised attempt to jointly market the existing offerings in tourism for the small and mid-sized tourist capacities in the Posavje region or, in other words, the tourism destination management in the framework of the High Nature Value in Zasavje Tourism (Naravne vrednote) project to the value of 360,000, which is partly financed by the European Regional Development Fund. F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 12

13 Key Indicators Posavje Region Area - Total km² Population - Total 76,086 GDP - Total 964 million (2007) - Pro capita 13,729 (2007) F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 13

14 CONCLUSION The Slovenska vas Technical Overhaul Institute is located in the Posavje Region, where the economy is currently in the final stage of restructuring, which means the termination of lowproduction jobs in certain industries, for example the textile industry, and the opening of highproductivity jobs in other industries. The facilities per se, which are owned by the Ministry of Defence, have a good strategic position as they are situated near both the railway and highway. Besides, in the framework of the Phoenix Project, the Cerklje ob Krki Military Airport is supposed to be changed into a commercial and cargo transportation airport, which represents an additional benefit. The Ministry of Defence has been trying to sell the respective facilities without success, as these are obsolete and non-maintained buildings that are situated in the non-active commercial complex. In the past, analyses have been made for the reactivation of the existing commercial complex which would also facilitate the sale of the military facilities as the entrepreneurial interest would thus increase. F.A.T.E. From Army To Entrepreneurship 14