In the document, which the Center had access to, the "BG Bus Prevoz" consortium requests an increase in the unit price of work for diesel and hybrid-powered vehicles, and a similar request will be made for gas-powered buses.
It is a consortium made up of the carriers C&LC Group, ASP Strela - Obrenovac and Banbus, which the city administration hired in September 2024 for 84 routes city transport, with more than 500 vehicles. This is not the first request of the "BG Bus Prevoz" consortium to increase payments from the budget. In September 2025, the consortium demanded a 9,42 percent increase in the labor price for gas-powered buses and 5,54 percent for Eurodiesel-powered buses, justifying such a move by increasing the average gross salary in Belgrade and increasing the price of gas.
At that time, the Center for Local Self-Government announced that the value of the contract was 171,18 billion dinars, or about 1,46 billion euros, and that this was the second price increase that the consortium was seeking.
Request after a million-dollar dispute
The request of private carriers for a new increase in payments from the city budget comes after City of Belgrade lost the dispute with the consortium "Arriva Litas", worth almost 900 million dinars, due to breach of contractual obligations.
As the lawyer of the consortium, Aleksandar Samuilović, previously explained to "Vreme", the dispute arose because the City did not adjust the price of transportation to the increase in costs for months, even though this was stipulated in the contract. "At the time when the conditions were met for a price increase, such as an increase in the price of fuel, the City did not do so, so the carriers carried out transport practically at their own expense," said Samuilović.
The tails of such a policy are now coming due, because the debt, including default interest, will be covered from the budget, that is, with the money of taxpayers and citizens of Belgrade.
For months they drove at their own expense: What is hidden behind the big lawsuit against the City of Belgrade for public transport
Citizens bear the risk, not carriers
The director of the Center for Local Self-Government, Nikola Jovanović, tells "Vreme" that private carriers have the contractual right to request an increase in the cost of labor, but he sees the problem in the fact that the system is set up so that the risk is not borne by them, but by the citizens.
Photo: FoNet/TV FoNetDirector of the Center for Local Self-Government Nikola Jovanovic
"Private carriers regularly ask for an increase in the price of their work, i.e. payments from the city budget per kilometer transported. They have the right to do so based on the signed contracts with the city, but the question is whether they should also take part of the risk and burden of the crisis or will it fall only on the citizens," says Jovanović.
He adds that there are differences among private carriers, because smaller carriers do their job honestly, and there are those whose long-term intention is to take over all public transport lines and abolish GSP Belgrade.
Who gets the biggest piece of the pie?
This year, the City of Belgrade is allocating around 47 billion dinars for public city transport, including private carriers and the City Transport Company.
The director of the Center for Local Self-Government says that the owner of Strela, Miroslav Nikolić, and the owner of C&LC Group and the essential representative of the "BG Bus Prevoz" consortium, Miodrag Lovrić, take the biggest share of the cake.
Jovanović estimates that a new increase of 6 percent would mean an additional cost of at least seven million euros per year for the city budget. "With the latest increase requested by private carriers, for every kilometer they transport us, they would receive about 415 dinars from the budget, almost like a taxi," adds Nikola Jovanović.
Bottomless budget hole
In the announcement of the Center for Local Self-Government, they warn that although 47 billion dinars are already allocated to the payment of transporters in Belgrade, this represents a bottomless hole in the city's budget. They also add that the current city administration has brought the capital into a hopeless situation.
Photo: Tanjug/BeoinfoAleksandar Šapić
Director of the Center, Nikola Jovanović, assesses that the public transport financing system has become unsustainable and that the continuous increase in allocations does not follow the improvement of the service. "When the current mayor, Aleksandar Šapić, took office, the allocations were about 30 billion dinars, and today they are 47 billion. At the same time, it is not about investments, but about current payments," he states.
The state finances, the city does not invest
In parallel with the requests of private carriers, a tender was held at the beginning of April for the procurement of 50 electric buses and the accompanying infrastructure, which was ordered by the state company "EXPO doo".
Trade union organizations in GSP have assessed that this purchase, financed by the Republic of Serbia, is one of the most significant investments in public transport in Belgrade in the last few decades and that they welcome this decision of the state, because it does not favor private carriers, which ensures the stability and quality of public transport.
Photo: Ministry of Environmental ProtectionElectric buses
The president of the "Centar" trade union then said that the value of the project is 33,2 million euros, and that two offers were submitted to the tender, of which the economically more favorable offer is from the Chinese manufacturer "Higer" whose vehicles GSP already has in use. The company EXPO doo confirmed this information.
Jovanović, however, points to a paradox in the financing of the system. "The state is now forced to financially support the City Transport Company, because otherwise it would shut down. EXPO bought 50 electric buses because the city did not have the funds or did not want to provide them," he says.
Privatization or public interest
The director of the Center for Local Self-Government points out that private carriers are protected by contracts, and that the city is happy to pay all their demands, because it is obvious that there are some private interests. "The goal of this city government is the privatization and tycoonization of public transport in Belgrade, which is disastrous in the short term, and especially in the long term. This is best seen from the increase in payments from the city budget for public transport," concludes Nikola Jovanović.
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