150 euros for installing an air conditioner, around 500 for painting a small apartment. In Serbia, it is increasingly difficult to find a master, because many still go to Germany. It allows those who remain to dictate prices, knowing that everyone needs a plumber or an electrician at some point
20 for removing the old air conditioner, and 150 for installing a new one. When you add to that the purchase of the device, it is necessary to set aside at least one average salary for the installation of air conditioning.
Despite the fact that the arrival of the master represents a serious blow to the pocket, the average citizen does not protest - because the master today is a rare and protected species. It simply does not work that after days and days of negotiations, when the master finally comes, you say that it is too expensive.
"Just for the master to come to the house, you need diplomacy, skill or a recommendation, because most of them have to wait from seven to a month," Ivan from Belgrade tells "Vreme".
Ivan is in the process of renovating his apartment, so a variety of craftsmen have been coming through his home these days - from air conditioner repairmen to plumbers and painters.
He waited seven days for the air conditioner to arrive, and another ten for the installation of the new device. With about 65 thousand dinars set aside for the inverter air conditioner, the work of the master paid 170 euros.
On the other hand, several Belgrade companies that deal with the maintenance of air conditioners point out that the reason for the long wait for the repairman is that the services are scheduled when the heat has already started. However, air conditioner repairman Željko believes that according to some unwritten rule, the air conditioner should be serviced when a severe winter has passed and spring has not yet arrived.
"Many people use the air conditioner for heating in that transitional period when it's not so cold, but it's still good to turn it on in the evening, just to warm up the apartment a little." This is done towards the end of January, maybe even February, it depends on how the winter was. On the other hand, those who use air conditioning for heating throughout the winter should schedule servicing now," he explains to the Nova.rs portal.
As for the price of the service, this master says that the prices in Belgrade range from 4.000 to 5.000 dinars, depending on the type of climate. Compared to last year, the price has increased by 500 dinars, but, in his opinion, it is "almost nothing because for that money you get a complete service in a fast and efficient way."
The worst is the bathroom
Our interlocutor Ivan, who is currently renovating the apartment, says that the worst room to renovate is the bathroom.
"No matter how much the master tells you, 500 to 1.000 euros more should be added to that." The problem with the bathroom is that you can't do something individually. If we are talking about renovation, removing the tiles is mandatory. "They tell you the price first, and when they remove the tiles, they start scratching their heads, since in 90 percent of the households in Belgrade, the plumbing installation is desperate," this Belgrade resident points out.
He adds that, in general, he has a bad experience with plumbers.
"The last time I called the plumber was when the vertical line in the building got clogged. "A plumber came and for 20 minutes of work and one unclogging of a pipe, he took 5.000 dinars," he says.
Fewer and fewer painters
Not only the services of air conditioner repairmen and plumbers are expensive. And painting an apartment represents an expenditure of several hundred euros.
"My apartment is 60 square meters." I got the lowest price of 300 euros through a recommendation and family ties. The material itself is another 100 to 150 euros. Otherwise, the prices range from 300 to 500 euros, and go up to 700 if you want the work to be completed in two days," says Ivan, adding that the painter he spoke with only had one free appointment, and that the new window would opened only in the second half of July.
To some extent, this is not surprising, when there are fewer and fewer of these masters in Serbia. This was pointed out to the portal Nova.rs by Goran Mijailović, a teacher of practical classes for wall surface decorators from the Zvezdara School of Construction. He says that precisely a small number of students in this field year after year confirm the thesis that "painting is not even a medicine".
"Last year there were only seven of them, two years ago there were six, while at the moment we have only three third-year students on the decorators' course. I don't understand why it is like that when the salary of a solid painter is more than good. They work on a daily basis, and the daily wage of a solid decorator is from 50 to 70 euros," he says.
"I know a lot of craftsmen who are engaged in this business, who cannot find auxiliary workers. They are betting on our students, rewarding them already at the practice by giving them a daily wage, hoping that they will stay with them to work. However, very few of them continue to engage in this business at all, they go abroad, and those who stay, usually open their own companies after finishing school," he explains.
All roads lead to Germany
"URGENT! JOB assistant-foreman Germany", is the first result of an internet search that includes the keywords "foreman" and "Germany". This is the first of a series of advertisements looking for Serbian workers to work abroad.
What kind of salaries do they offer in Germany, which has been one of the most popular destinations for Serbian workers for years? According to the German Felix magazine, in the leading country of the European Union, permanently employed painters earn a gross salary of 2.762 euros, while plumbers have a gross salary of 3.970 euros.
In 2021, the president of the German Employment Agency, Detlef Scheele, appealed to the government in Berlin, saying that Germany needs more immigrants every year, warning that the situation will worsen over the years.
"Germany is running out of manpower," Schelle told "Zdeutsche Zeitung". As a result of demographic development, the number of potentially working population will decrease by 150.000 this year.
"We need 400.000 immigrants a year, so much more than in past years." From caregivers, through air conditioner installers, to logisticians and university-educated people. There will be a shortage of labor in all areas," said the head of the Employment Agency.
"It will be much more dramatic in the coming years," Schele warned.
Even though there is plenty of work for craftsmen in Serbia, they leave the border en masse in search of a better life. That is why the prices for services in Serbia are created by those who stay.
The hospital formed a commission for an extraordinary expert check and informed the health inspection. Cases of death during childbirth in Serbia rarely receive a judicial epilogue.
The request for disqualification of the prosecutor delayed the implementation of the order for the arrest of the legal representatives of the "Millennium Team". The case has now been taken over by the First Basic Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, which should continue the proceedings urgently
The tender for the construction of the mast at Ušće was suspended because no offer was received. In the city budget, only 5,4 million dinars are planned for this purpose, while no funds are planned for the next two years.
For 75 months of living in a 36-square-meter apartment in Dorćol, I spent 21.600 euros. For that money, I could buy five square meters in the Old Town at the moment, which has risen on average from 2.129 to 3.958 euros for old buildings.
Poštanska štedionica takes over the payment of insured deposits to clients of Alta Bank, whose license was revoked by the NBS, and individuals and certain legal entities will be able to withdraw money, up to a limit of EUR 50.000 per depositor.
At the moment when the institutions of the Republic are destroyed, when Vučić's octopus is still alive, when people are disgusted by the injustice and the stench left behind by the Essenes regime, we have, as Machiavelli said, only civic virtue as the fuel with which we can return to the beginning
The four independent members of REM are an example of perseverance and civic responsibility. Rodoljub Šabić even, upon leaving the premises of REM, after the sentencing of the Informer, experienced that the Essenes insulted him, hit him with their hands and feet. But that too will soon be over
Vučić pardoned the batterers and Dijana Hrkalović. The election winners should abolish the sultan's power that allows one man to run afoul of the entire judicial system
Interview: Branko Stamenković, public prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office
A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
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