In full swing headache with NIS, the Ministry of Energy of Serbia hosted a certain Chinese company "China Energy International Group". They signed a memorandum of cooperation on construction with them refineries in Smederevo. Impressions of the business of heavy industry in this city could be conveyed to them by compatriots who hold Smederevo Steelworks.
The mentioned refinery is not a new idea. It was coined in 2020 by the former president of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolić, as part of his next function - president of the National Council for Coordination with Russia and China. The entire deal would be worth 2,4 billion euros, and in 2024, a framework agreement was signed, which brought 4.000 people from Smederevo to the main square in protest.
With the new agreement, the Chinese and the Serbian government show that they are not giving up and that the deals are starting to accelerate.
"The citizens of Smederevo will not allow the Chinese to build a refinery," Nikola Krstić from "Fortress Movement" is convinced, who tells "Vreme" that this is not a foreign policy decision, but an environmental one.
Smederevo residents also rejected Americans
He recalls that in 2010, the people of Smederevo held a referendum on the construction of a similar refinery in the city, in which the Americans were interested. At that time, 72 percent of citizens voted against the construction of the facility.
"We are not against the Chinese because they are Chinese, but simply because of the problem with pollution. We all know that Smederevo, with its existing industry, is one of the most polluted cities in the country. Our fellow citizens will not survive it," believes Krstić, who says that their surveys have shown that currently around 80 percent of citizens are against this business.
That the state is aware of pollution is also shown by the decision from 2024, when they first fined the Chinese company that has been managing the Ironworks in Smederevo since 2016. The inspection report confirmed that the limit values of pollutants were exceeded. The fine was still ridiculously low - one million dinars. The people of Smederevo were disappointed by the amount of health and environmental consequences they suffer.
Serbia as a big mine
Nebojša Boban Atanacković, the former majority owner of the oil processing and trading company "AD Nafta" from Serbia, tells "Vreme" that the Chinese strategically chose Smederevo to build a refinery there and that he understands why they are aiming for it.
"Nevertheless, Smederevo is very ecologically burdened. They already have an Ironworks, I think that even the local self-government should not allow this business," says Atancković.
He thinks that Serbia does not need another refinery, although he admits that the current situation with the Oil Industry of Serbia and the refinery in Pančevo is quite unfavorable.
"But the whole business with NIS was made by giving the only significant energy value of Serbia to the Russians, and together with the company we also gave them tons of barrels of our oil," he adds, referring to the oil they have exhausted in the meantime.
An additional problem for Serbia would be that, according to the former director of "AD Nafta", Western Europe does not look favorably on diesel fuel, and they themselves avoid building refineries for environmental reasons.
"Serbia, on the other hand, has turned into a big mine," he adds and raises the question - where would the Chinese import that crude oil that they would process in Serbia. Because Janaf already has an old customer - MOL, so the question is whether they would like to do business with the Chinese.
The same people are coming back.
Energy in this city is constantly decided by the same people who go around in circles, adds Nikola Krstić, who claims that the current mayor of Smederevo, Jasmina Vojinovoić, wanted to initial a deal with an American company in 2010, while she was in the Democratic Party. Now, as a member of SNS, she is pushing the Chinese.
This environmental movement wrote twice to the state to provide them with the text of the agreement with the Chinese company, but they were told that it was a trade secret and that the Chinese would be harmed. This same excuse was also used in the construction of the canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad, which collapsed in 2024 and claimed 16 lives. Although the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance, and the one who was supported by SNS, insisted twice that the papers on the agreement with the Chinese regarding the refinery should still be submitted - the Ministry of Energy simply ignored him.
Cable reels
The argument, that certain residents of Smederevo could support the construction of a refinery if they would not improve their household budget, may be true for some citizens, say the Fortress Movement.
"But it should be understood that we already have an Ironworks where salaries for ordinary workers are miserable, around 60.000 to 70.000 dinars. We already have experience with the Chinese who offer very bad working conditions," said the Movement. "One more thing is important. In addition to Železara, Smederevo already gives jobs to cable winders, which we have turned into, because we have several more factories. Our problem is not unemployment, but low wages and poor living conditions."
