"The city of Belgrade is breaking the law at every step," claims Nikola Radin. He is an economist, who knows how things work "from the inside" because he is a certified internal auditor in the public sector, but the CEO of an organization "Belgrade on the move"This organization follow tenders in the capital and often writes findings about their setup or potential lucrative deals that city officials make with new or dubious firms.
In the new issue of Vremena, which is on sale from Thursday, December 18, Radin says that Belgrade "has become the capital of favoritism, corruption and organized economic crime not only in Serbia, but also in the entire region."
Utilities will be more expensive starting in the spring
Based on publicly available data on revenues, expenditures and existing liabilities, Radin's conservative estimate is that the City of Belgrade will borrow at least 15 billion dinars in 2026, and it is almost certain that this amount will be significantly higher.
"The full picture becomes visible only when all due, but also hidden, obligations are taken into account. New loans are no longer taken for capital projects that create new value, but to cover current consumption. Due to this way of borrowing, citizens can already expect an increase in the price of utility services during the second quarter," he thinks.
Millions and two employees
One of the most obvious examples of rigged tenders, which his organization often reports on, Radin claims, is the multi-year rental of trucks used by City Cleanliness.
"Although new vehicles are procured every year, procurements for renting trucks are being carried out in parallel for the third year in a row. So far, more than 900 million dinars have been agreed for these jobs, with an almost identical scenario: one bidder and a price that differs from the estimated value by less than one percent, which practically excludes the existence of real competition," he explains.
A similar pattern, he adds, can be seen in the case of the company Begman Production, founded at the end of 2023, with two employees, which in less than a year achieved an increase in revenue of over 1000 percent, almost exclusively through business with the City of Belgrade.
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