Since the results were announced on May 29 Ministry of Culture for the competition Cities in focus, Minister Nikola Selaković almost every day he travels from city to city and signs contracts on co-financing/financing projects with which they competed.
And that, of course, is extremely good news.
A record 430 million
The "Cities in focus" program was launched by the Ministry of Culture and Information in 2016, during the time of Ivan Tasovac, with the intention of decentralizing the cultural life of Serbia and strengthening the capacity of local self-governments in the field of culture. Since then, this program has been developing more and more (more in detail later in the text) to make the most progress during the time of Minister Nikola Selaković.
This year, according to Minister Selaković, a record 430 million was allocated for 31 cities and municipalities from the state budget allocated for culture, for "Cities in focus". As he explained, the money will be used mainly for the reconstruction of cultural centers, equipping cinema halls, digitizing projection equipment, renovating museums, libraries, archives and centers of culture.
Six contracts
Of the mentioned 31 cities and municipalities that will receive money from this year's competition, contracts have already been signed with six of them: with Bela Palanka for 13 million dinars for the reconstruction of the "Vuk Karadžić" National Library, with Inđija for seven million dinars for the procurement of equipment - projectors and audio processors for the multifunctional hall of the Center for Culture, the municipality of Ljig has been allocated 26 million dinars for equipping the multifunctional hall of the former House of Culture, Mionica thanks to the contract of seven million dinars to complete the scenography of the "House of the Battle of Kolubara" museum, Prijepolje received five million dinars for restoration and conservation work on the Clock Tower, and Topola received 10 million dinars for financing the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the roof of the Cultural Center building.
Poplar
Immediately after this donation, Topola received a new 10 million dinars, this time for work on the Church of St. George in Oplenac. As Minister Selaković explained on that occasion for the Municipality of Topola, the Ministry of Culture secured a total of 21.150.000 dinars through three tenders this year because, in addition to ten million dinars for the Culture Center and ten million dinars for ten million for the Church of St. George, 250.000 thousand was allocated for the creation of a virtual tour through the mausoleum and the Church of St. George, as well as an additional 750.000 dinars for the establishment of the children's section of the "Radoje Domanović" National Library.
2,38 billion in 10 years
According to Minister Selaković, during the ten years of its existence, the state allocated 2,38 billion dinars for the "Cities in Focus" program.
"In the ten years of implementation of the program 'Cities in focus' ... more than 2,38 billion dinars have been invested," said the minister during the signing of the contract for the reconstruction of Kragujevac's Sokolana, at the end of July 2025. On that same day, I only fly to Ruma, he specified: 2.382.000.000 dinars.
On the website of the Ministry of Culture, there is no information about what has been realized, what is still being done, and what has yet to start. The Ministry publishes news about the signing of contracts, about the minister's visit to facilities that are being built or completed thanks to state money, and there is no analysis of what has been done and what has not.
Cyrillic Museum
The media is also not a reliable source for obtaining such data, among other things, because most of these investments are multi-year, they go through several budget cycles, so it is not known whether the opening of a facility means that it is finished.
Photo: Promo/National MuseumCyrillic Museum
For example, the Ministry of Culture announced on May 24, 2025 that it was founded Cyrillic Museum in Rača near Bajina Bašta, then on February 26 this year, the minister opened the guest exhibition of the National Museum of Serbia, and at this year's competition "Cities in focus" Bajina Bašta received 25 million dinars for the construction works of the Ćirilica House.
Knjazevac
Or: in July 2024, just after becoming a minister, Selaković was in Knjaževac visiting the House of Culture, the interior of which was renovated thanks to 12 million dinars that he received the previous year from the "Cities in Focus" program, during the time of Minister Maja Gojković.
Photo: Ministry of CultureCultural Center in Knjaževac
Then, from the same program in 2025, Knjaževac received 6.300.000 dinars for the continuation of the modernization of the House of Culture, and this year it will receive another 10 million for the purchase of multifunctional audio equipment and a cinema projector for the large hall.
There is no publicly available information on how much the state from the "Cities in Focus" program has already chosen for the Knjaževac House of Culture and what else is planned. The only thing that is certain is that the House of Culture has been working for years, and that it has a varied and rich program.
The highest and the lowest
The most money in this year's "Cities in focus" competition was allocated to Ljig: 30 million dinars for the first phase of construction works of the new Library building, plus 26 million for the construction and construction crafts of the House of Culture.
Next is Kladovo, which has been allocated 33 million for the adaptation and energy rehabilitation of the multifunctional hall of the Visitor Center facility in the Fetislam fortress.
Vrnjačka banja will receive the least, two million dinars for the investment maintenance of the Castle of Culture III phase.
History
When the "Cities in Focus" program was launched in 2016, the idea was to award the title "City in Focus 2016" after several rounds of selection. The commission visited the shortlisted cities and in October of that year decided that "City in focus 2016" would be Novi Bečej, for the project "The past in the present as a pledge of the future". For the realization of the project, Novi Bečej received about 56,8 million dinars.
It turned out that Novi Bečej will remain the only holder of the title "City in focus" because already in the first year of the program's existence, the commission decided to finance several other cities as well, only with smaller amounts. According to announcements at the time, Kikinda, Zrenjanin, Kragujevac, Užice and Šabac also received funds. Therefore, already in 2016, the program began to resemble a fund for financing several local self-governments.
Vukosavljevic and Gojkovic
During the time of Minister Vladan Vukosavljević (2017 - 2020), the concept of one winner was abandoned and the program became a competition for a larger number of local governments, so 583 million dinars were invested in 53 projects.
Then, from 2020 to 2024, during the mandate of Maja Gojković, that number was doubled.
Selakovic
Since Nikola Selaković was the Minister of Culture, 350 million dinars were invested in 47 cities in 2024, while last year 393.473.000 dinars were allocated to 32 cities. It means that last year a smaller number of cities were supported compared to the previous one, but the amount was increased by about 50 million dinars. This means that the average amount per project was significantly higher than in 2024.
This year it continued in that direction. We will repeat: a record 430 million was allocated for 31 cities and municipalities.
So: the fact that the state invests in culture in the interior is commendable. But it is reprehensible that he does not give at least the same and as much attention to the programs of institutions, film, visual arts, publishing, festivals... and above all that he hinders the development of culture with such a strategy.
Real journalism costs money, and we will not be bought by tycoons and corporations. Support us with a one-time or monthly donation. The time for it is now!
