In all the announcements since he was mentioned at all Leap into the future, in addition to infrastructure projects (roads, railways, sewage network), the BIO4 campus project and large investments in energy were also announced. Admittedly, these projects are listed on the website of the Leap into the Future program, but they are not on the list of capital projects where you can see the date by which the project should be completed, as well as the price. The only information about the science campus is that it should be completed by December 2026, says Aleksandra Nenadović on the portal New Economy.
The list of capital projects includes 11 projects that do not include the largest ever investment in science in Serbia, namely the BIO4 campus, but also many other projects such as the reversible power plant in Bistrica. Why these projects are not on the list of capital investments, only the Government of Serbia knows the reason. Even this list of projects was difficult for the public to come by, only in an agreement with the International Monetary Fund did the Serbian authorities undertake to publish data for projects whose value is greater than 20 million euros. The value of the BIO4 campus is measured in hundreds of millions of euros, according to reports, it is not on the list.
The Leap into the Future 2027 program also announces the average salary, which should be 1.056 euros at the end of this year. Judging by the president's announcements from a few days ago, he now "hopes that by the end of the year the average salary will be 1.000 euros".
As for the list of capital projects until 2027, for which we have some data, the construction of the E-761 highway, section: Pojate - Preljina, worth 2,1 billion euros with a completion date of 2026, is listed. The second is the construction of highway E-763, section: Preljina - Požega, with a completion date of this year and a price of 636 million euros.
A tunnel was officially opened on this section last week, but it is reportedly not safe, as some experts have warned. On the newly opened section of the highway from Pakovrač to Požega, medical teams have also started on duty, the media reported. Both firefighters and police officers are on duty at the Munja brdo tunnel, and all after that section was opened to traffic without the automatic monitoring prescribed by the regulations, according to the N1 report. To put it mildly, this investment is not safe and it is questionable how safe it is.
The reconstruction and modernization of the section of the Belgrade-Nis railway is a capital project with a completion date of 2029, and the value is 1,9 billion euros. The project received financial support from the European Union.
Postponement of deadlines
According to Istinomer, in December 2021, during his visit to Niš, President Vučić promised that the high-speed railway from that city to Belgrade would be completed by 2026.
"The only planned deadline for the completion of the Belgrade-Nis railway is 2026, the high-speed railway. Don't get in the way, people, remember, it's in less than four years. In four years, you will be driving Belgrade-Nis for two hours. It's just not realistic, it's like another country," he said then.
The works are obviously late because now the deadline has been postponed.
Another project is the construction of the highway, section Belgrade - Zrenjanin, completion date 2029 and a price of 1,6 billion euros. This project is mentioned in the budget of Serbia from 2022, and the works started in October last year. The project includes the construction of a highway in full profile, with all accompanying facilities and intersections, in a length of 67,67 km from Ovča to Zrenjanin. Also, the section Zrenjanin - Novi Sad (Kać interchange) with a length of 35,75 km is planned. Works are in progress.
The project Construction of the road Ruma Šabac - Loznica was completed on time and put into operation last year in December, while the value of the works was 10,9 million euros.
In Serbia, the media and certain institutions have been warning about the constant breaking of deadlines, as well as the prices of works, which have been increased several times. Nova Ekonomija has written about this topic on several occasions.
"Preliminary calculations by the Fiscal Council on a sample of eight projects in the field of road infrastructure show that the final cost of the investment exceeds the initial planning framework by at least 65 percent on average. We are talking about highways and expressways whose construction began in the period from 2018 to today, among which there are some that have been completed, but those that are expected to be completed in the next few years dominate," the Council's findings from the last report.
The Hungarian-Serbian railway project is on this list with a price of 1,4 billion euros and a completion date of 2025. With the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, part of this project came under investigation, and the public pressure is great because of the death of 16 people. Despite this major accident, the President announced the first opening of this railway to Subotica for the beginning of July this year. Then he changed it to the end of August, while as he would say "the railway for freight traffic should be opened a little earlier, by the end of July".
Which realizations are delayed?
Before that, the opening of the reconstructed Belgrade-Subotica high-speed railway was announced for November 24, 2024, but after the fall of the canopy at the railway station, the President of Serbia moved that opening to December 8, Magločistač reports. There are more and more media findings that support the fact that this railway is not safe for use either.
The construction of the Belgrade metro (line 1) is another project, the price is 622,2 million euros, and the completion date is 2031. Vučić signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Prime Minister of France, Manuel Valls, on the construction of the subway in Belgrade in November 2014, and promised to start the works in 2016. Since then, the deadlines have been postponed so many times that it is now impossible to count.
In April of last year, the Minister of Construction at the time, Goran Vesić, said that in 2025, construction would begin on the Železnik, Makiš, Bele vode, Mostar, Trgovacka and Savski trg metro stations, which are important because two metro lines will cross there, and then Mostar, where there will be a connection with BG train and Prokop.
As he added, in 2026, the stations Žarkovo, Požeška, Banovo brdo, Ada Ciganlija, Sajam, Trg Republike, Skadarlija and the Danube station will be built.
So, not even a part of the promise regarding this project has been fulfilled, but there are still six years left until the deadline.
EXPO Belgrade 2027 – Belgrade Fair, Zone B (forum, exhibition spaces, parking, landscaping), as well as the National Stadium are scheduled for 2027, and the value for the fair is 1,2 billion euros and 576 million euros for the stadium. The authorities claim that this will be a good income and promotion for Serbia. Economic analysts are not so convinced of success, and the short construction deadlines do not instill confidence in citizens because of the canopy in Novi Sad, but also the Grdelica gorge and the situation with the tunnel on Munja hill.
The project for the construction of municipal (sewage) infrastructure and infrastructure for municipal solid waste disposal in the Republic of Serbia will cost 3,1 billion euros and should be completed in 2027. New Economy wrote about the fact that since 2004, Serbia collects the so-called "environmental tax" from all companies, according to how much they pollute the environment. This money was previously poured into the Fund for a Clean Serbia, which ended ingloriously, because embezzlement was found in it. No one was responsible for this, the Fund was abolished, but the collection of compensation continued.
Analyzes by the Fiscal Council show that in the period from 2011 to 2022, on the basis of environmental taxes and fees, 337 billion dinars flowed into the budget of the general state, that is, 35 billion dinars in 2022 alone. Due to these data, it is unclear why Serbia is borrowing from China for the sewage network project.
For the high-speed road Novi Sad-Ruma (Fruškogorski Corridor), the completion of the works is planned for next year with a price of 635,5 million euros.
What we know for now about the new economic plan is that "everything will be done from Bački Breg to Vrbas, until the connection to the main highway Novi Sad - Subotica", according to the current president. According to him, it is not worth it for us to have a road from Belgrade to Subotica, we have to connect Nis and Istanbul, so that we can again be part of the Orient Express and the tourist offer".
According to estimates, between 30.000 and 60.000 people leave Serbia in the last ten years. According to Eurostat data, in the period from 2013 to 2021, 343,7 thousand Serbian citizens applied for and received a residence permit in the countries of the European Union for the first time, Nedeljnik's data from two years ago. So far no one has done a thorough analysis of why young people are leaving, the state has never really tackled this problem. The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has been in power in Serbia since 2012.
Given that the next regular elections are at the end of 2027, the electorate will be able to give their opinion on economic programs in the country, if not sooner. Of the listed capital investments, most of them are delayed, the prices of the projects increase up to three times, and the safety and profitability is questionable.
Source: New Economy
