City Transport Company (GSP) announced a tender for the procurement of 85 new ones tram, with a total value slightly higher than 20 billion dinars, or 188 million euros.
GSP will acquire 85 trams, which means that one, on average, will cost 259,6 million dinars, or about 2,2 million euros, Nova ekonomija writes.
Although, in accordance with the operations of state-owned companies under the regime Aleksandar Vučić, implies that the tender is arranged for the bidder at the will of the authorities, an equally important question is where GSP will get the money for the purchase, since that company is in a very bad financial situation.
Critical financial condition of GSP
Although GSP is not officially bankrupt, the financial situation in that company unions and experts describe as critical.
Thus, at the end of last year, the president of the trade union "Center - GSP Belgrade", Ivan Banković, stated that in the budget, Belgrade for the year 2026, more than 48 billion dinars will be allocated for the functioning of public transport, but despite this, there will be no money for the development of the network of lines, the purchase of new vehicles and investments.
Banković then warned that more than 43 billion dinars would go to pay private carriers, that is, contract services.
He added that in 2025, the plans for the purchase of 300 new buses and 100 trams and the general overhaul of 25 trams from the Spanish manufacturer CAF were not realized and reminded that there were no significant investments in the tram and trolleybus infrastructure.
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Losses, borrowing and failed tenders
According to the available data, GSP ended the year 2024 with a loss of around 17,4 million euros, while the accumulated loss in the past five years reached approximately 95 million euros.
The total long-term financial obligations of the company at the end of 2024 amounted to 84,5 million euros.
In addition, GSP regularly borrows from commercial banks to pay off old debts.
During 2025, several tenders for the procurement of new buses were canceled due to irregularities, which led to GSP entering 2026 with an outdated fleet and uncertain renewal.
Finally, a large number of lines, especially suburban ones, have been awarded to private consortia, which the unions see as a weakening of GSP in favor of private profit.
Enormous profits for private individuals
Ivan Banković also warned that it is "extremely worrying" that "under the guise of free transport, even more lines are being allocated to a narrow circle of private companies".
He pointed out that these companies make enormous profits, while during this time GSP borrows new loans every month. He stated that you loans are taken to pay off outstanding debts.
Banković warned that in 2026, GSP predicted the scrapping of as many as 188 buses and 15 trams
"Instead of spending almost a billion dinars on pointless acquisitions of new software for calculating the interval between two vehicles on the line and software for specifying the route of vehicle movement in the event of emergency circumstances, it would be more expedient and cheaper for citizens if the entire public transport system of Belgrade was put under the umbrella of one city company," said Banković.
Finally, the chaos in which public transport in Belgrade is best evidenced by the parallel existence of the Secretariat for Public Transport, two municipal utilities dealing with public transport, 18 private carriers and two private companies providing technical support services to the public transport management system.
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