Nataša Vukšić, a longtime associate of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, from the shadows played an important role in the railway reconstruction project to Hungary, in which a tragic accident occurred at the Novi Sad railway station
Nataša Vukšić, a close associate of President Aleksandar Vučić, played a role in the reconstruction and adaptation project from the shadows. railways towards Hungary, writes Filip Rudić in The new economy.
It was almost two o'clock in the morning when engineer Milutin Savović sent an email Anita Dimoski, assistants to the Minister of Construction, in connection with the works on the railway to Budapest.
"The report for Unit 9 is complete." I sent it for electronic signature. I expect the signing round to end tomorrow during the day," wrote Savović. "Unit 9" is a part of the railway line towards Hungary, which also includes the Novi Sad Railway Station.
Savović, the owner of the company Trioprojekt, was the president of the Commission for the technical inspection of railway works, including this station.
The date of his email was November 1, 2024.
Just ten hours after he sent the email, the station canopy collapsed, killing 14 people and seriously injuring three. One of the injured persons died in the following days.
The unprecedented tragedy was followed by the dismissal of high-ranking officials, mass protests and the indictment of 13 people, including former minister Goran Vesić, as well as his assistant Dimoski.
Connection with the state leadership
However, one detail from the email sent by Savović has been missed by everyone until now.
In addition to Anita Dimoski and other persons responsible for the project, Savović's email was also addressed to a certain Nataša Vukšić.
Apart from the fact that her address ends with "gov.rs", which indicates that she works for a state institution, there is no information in the published documents about who Vukšić is, on whose behalf she acts and on what grounds. So far, her name has not been publicly mentioned anywhere in connection with the works at the Railway Station.
However, this is a person who represents a direct connection with the highest political leadership of the Republic of Serbia.
As New Economy has established, Nataša Vukšić is a longtime associate of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who was involved in this project even though the president and his associates have no authority over it.
Vukšić convened and led meetings of actors in the project, according to one of the testimonies before the High Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad, into which Nova ekonomija had insight. On several occasions, she was also included in the correspondence of the institutions responsible for the reconstruction of the railway, which we determined by a detailed review of the documents published so far.
Her identity was confirmed by the editors of New Economy through the data she left at the Chamber of Authorized Auditors, the address from her correspondence and several mutually unrelated sources.
Until the publication of the text, New Economy did not receive answers to the questions sent to Nataša Vukšić and other officials in the project, as well as from the office of President Vučić.
"I don't know which institution she was in front of"
In December 2024, witnesses were questioned in the proceedings initiated by the VJT in Novi Sad regarding the fall of the canopy. During such interrogations, in addition to the prosecutor, questions can also be asked by suspects and their defense attorneys.
One of the suspects who followed the testimony was Anita Dimoski, whom President Vučić once called the most responsible for the rapid development of the railway project.
Expert supervision team leader Dragan Gligorov from Utiber, the company at the head of the railway project supervision consortium, testified that during the implementation of the project he had regular meetings with representatives of investors, financiers, contractors, geodetic service and other authorities.
After a series of questions from the defense attorneys of the suspects, Dymoski joined the questioning. She asked Gligorov - which institution managed the inter-institutional meetings he was talking about?
"The meetings were managed by Nataša Vukšić, she also helped in the completion of phase 2, which is the line between Stara Pazova and Novi Sad. However, I do not know which institution she was in front of. She convened the meetings she led. Some meetings were convened by me, some by Anita Dimoski, some by the investor", answered Gligorov, and it can be seen in the Minutes of the Examination of Witnesses.
After reviewing this document, New Economy reviewed 530 files with electronic correspondence of participants in the project, previously published by the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad, and discovered Nataša Vukšić's email address in it.
We were able to link this email address with a physical address and a mobile phone number. The physical address was Andrićev venac 1.
We connected the mobile number with the profile on social networks. We showed this profile to a certain number of knowledgeable sources who confirmed that it was an associate of the president.
Long-term associate of Vučić
New Economy established that Vukšić was a member of Aleksandar Vučić's cabinet when he was prime minister.
By decision of the Government in February 2017, Vukšić was appointed to the National Council for Tourism Development, as a member of the Prime Minister's Cabinet, which was then published in the Official Gazette.
In April of that year, elections were held in which Vučić won his first presidential mandate, and with him Nataša Vukšić moved to Andrić's wreath.
This is confirmed by the Government's decision from October 2017, which partially changed the composition of the National Council for Tourism. Nataša Vukšić is still in it, but now as a member of the Cabinet of the President of the Republic.
On his LinkedIn profile, Vukšić states that since 2010 he has been working at Ernst&Young, one of the largest firms in the world for the provision of auditing, tax, business and IT consulting services and support for business transactions.
In the register of the Chamber of Authorized Auditors, Vukšić listed Andrićev venac 1 in Belgrade as the address - the seat of the President of Serbia.
The email address she provided on the Chamber's registry is the same address with a government domain that was used in correspondence regarding the rail project.
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