In April 2024, Goran Vesić issued an instruction obliging all those responsible for railway infrastructure projects with European funds to seek his consent before making any decision.
Goran Vesić as the Minister of Construction, he ordered the director of the Railway Infrastructure of Serbia company Jelena Tanaskovic that all decisions on projects that have European funding must be approved by the Ministry, that is, by him personally. In question is the minister's "Instruction" that Tanasković referred to before the prosecutor as evidence that she did not decide on anything related to the works at the Novi Sad Railway Station, that is, that Vesić insisted on leading all the projects, based on the alleged agreement he had with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, writes Filip Rudić in The new economy.
Vesić's instruction, adopted on April 29, 2024, calls for a decision on the formation of a Working Group in charge of infrastructure projects financed from European funds.
"I issue the Instruction in such a way that all phases and steps in the implementation of the Railway Infrastructure Project, in which 'Infrastruktur železnice Srbije' ad, as one of the contracting parties, is involved, must be previously agreed and confirmed by the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, i.e. the Minister, in the capacity of chairman [of the Working Group]," the directive states.
This "especially refers to decisions, consents and opinions during the preparation of project - technical and planning documentation, preparation of tender documentation, selection of the Contractor and supervision, and especially in the phase of realization and fulfillment of goals for the completion of the project", it is written in the document, which New Economy obtained through a request for access to information of public importance.
In the end, Vesić notes that the implementation of the Instruction is an obligation in the implementation of the project, because "non-implementation of it fully implies the direct responsibility of the participants who do not apply it".
This is the instruction that the former Acting Director of the Railway Infrastructure of Serbia, Jelena Tanasković, referred to before the prosecutor, when she transferred the responsibility for the Novi Sad Railway Station project to the former minister.
However, as can be seen from the document, the instruction talks about projects financed by European funds.
The railway line Novi Sad - Subotica - Kelebija was paid mostly from the Chinese loan. The budget laws from 2021 to 2025 do not specify any European source of finance for this section.
New Economy also asked the Ministry of Construction whether any part of it is financed by EU, EIB or EBRD funds, but the answer did not arrive until the publication of this text.
Lawyer Jovan Rajić tells New Economy that, strictly and formally interpreted, the instruction itself "does not apply to this project, bearing in mind that it is financed by Chinese partners."
"However, it is up to the prosecution and the court to determine whether Vesić only formally 'covered himself' with this instruction, that is, by forming the commission, in order to deliver the instruction to Tanasković in written form, which, according to her, he also gave her orally," said Rajić.
Nemanja Nenadić from the Transparency Serbia organization says that the Novi Sad-Kelebija railway line is financed 85 percent from a Chinese loan, and that he does not know if there is another loan or an EU donation for the rest of the funds.
"So, it could be that Vesić really wanted to oblige Jelena Tanasković to seek his consent regarding the decisions on this project, or that she understood it that way, but it seems that there was no basis for that," says Nenadić.
New Economy sent questions to Goran Vesić and Jelena Tanasković (through her lawyer), but the answer did not reach the publication of the text.
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