Without public debate, they change lex specialis, so that they can bypass public procurement and put into operation facilities that will not have a use permit - for as long as two years.
This is how, in short, the news about the amendments to the law for the construction of the complex could read "Expo 2027" which should adopted by the deputies in the Serbian Parliament.
The plan envisages that the giant project expands to the city municipality of Novi Belgrade, because the construction of the National Football Stadium also covers the coastal strip along the Sava River from Block 45 to the Ostružničko Bridge.
Several organizations stood up against these changes, including the Association of Architects, the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture.
"The changes to the lex specialis imply major changes for the purpose of speeding up the procedures," assistant professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Sanja Fritz, explains to "Vreme". "At this sensitive moment, given everything that happened in Novi Sad, it is quite worrying that facilities can be allowed to operate temporarily, for up to two years, without a use permit."
The plan leads the country to a new serious collapse of the transparency process, even though Serbia is on the world stage lists of the Corruption Perception Index, already returned to the worst position since 2012.
"Not even when the special law on Expo was adopted in 2023, a public discussion was organized, and not even now, when significant changes and additions have been made," Nemanja Nenadić, program director of Transparency Serbia, told Vreme. "It is contrary to the rules of procedure of the Government of Serbia itself." The changes were not submitted to the Anti-Corruption Agency for its opinion, which is mandatory in the field of public procurement."
Stadium and pontoon on the Sava River
The changes are currently on public inspection as part of the so-called fourth phase of the development of the Spatial Plan, which covers an area of 813,6 hectares. In addition to numerous plots in Surčin, the plan also includes 152 whole cadastral plots in New Belgrade, as well as parts of another 89 plots in that municipality, reports Forbes Serbia.
The National Football Stadium will serve as the location for the specialized exhibition "Expo 2027", and the final changes will prepare the field for the final phase.
An area of 31,41 hectares is planned for the stadium, and 62,02 hectares for the accompanying sports facilities. An international passenger pier, a pontoon for public transport, as well as a pier for the needs of the exhibition space are planned on the Sava River.
On February 11, the Spatial Planning Agency published a public review of the draft spatial plan for the special purpose area of the National Football Stadium. Anyone interested can see it until February 24 in the City Administration of Belgrade, as well as in digital format on the website Agency for Spatial Planning and Urban Planning of Serbia and page City of Belgrade.
After Novi Sad - again the same
Unlike the basic law for the Expo, in the amendments, explains assistant professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering Sonja Fritz, consent is not required for the environmental impact assessment study, before the decision to issue a building permit.
"And the procedure of early public inspection, which is mandatory according to the Law on Planning and Construction, is essentially thrown out, and the procedure of public inspection, which is required to last one month, is shortened to 15 days." It is a short period for the reaction and possible objections of all interested parties on which the plan may have an impact," adds Fritz.
The shortening of procedures and the haste in the implementation of projects probably contributed to the tragedy in Novi Sad, the assistant professor thinks, and states that "perhaps this is the right moment for us as a profession to stop, analyze the existing laws and procedures, and return all possible changes first to the process of expert and public discussion, and then only to the parliamentary procedure."
Similarities and differences with Belgrade on the water
The progressive government has brought lex specialis before, and the most famous one is for Belgrade on the water. There are also projects for the Moravian Corridor, as well as for the construction of apartments for members of the security services.
"The common feature of the law for Belgrade on Water and the Expo is that they provide for different procedures - in terms of expropriation, planning and construction, public procurement and other issues," explains Nemanja Nenadić.
"The very modality that was used here in public procurement is somewhat different. For example, with Belgrade on the water, public procurement is mentioned only in the context of the 'beating' between the city of Belgrade and the company Belgrade on the water doo. That's how this company got the job without competition."
However, the progressives were not the first
Although the practice of passing special laws for individual projects is a trademark of the current government, here as in other cases, the actions of political predecessors could serve as a model, adds Nenadić.
In particular, there were important laws that were passed to support the construction industry during the economic crisis in 2010, explains the director of Transparency, "which excluded the application of important provisions of the law on public procurement, the most famous of which is the construction of the Stepa Stepanovic settlement."
The Constitutional Court did not accept the initiative of Transparency Serbia and the Coalition for the Supervision of Public Finances to assess the constitutionality of this law, because, adds Nenadić, it relied almost exclusively on economic instead of legal reasons for adopting the regulation.
Another example is the special law that was passed in 2013 for the construction of the South Stream.
"The harmful effects of this law were absent because the project was stopped," says Nenadić about the cancellation of South Stream back in 2015 due to the dispute between Russia and Europe regarding the ownership regulation of companies in the energy sector.
