"They are confident in their power to remove protection if it is necessary and profitable for them, or if they have some other interest." Likewise, if the laws say otherwise, they will change the laws, or if the urban plans show other verified planning solutions, they will change the plans, and everything according to the wishes and instructions of the investor," said architect, urban planner and spatial planner Dr. Borislav Stojkov for "Vreme".
First, this April, almost 400 attendees at the Forum of Architects from all over Serbia unanimously accepted the action that would prevent the plan to demolish the Belgrade Fair and the General Staff, and then 13 members of the working group wrote a Declaration on the fate of the Fair and the General Staff and recently presented it to the public. The declaration immediately became known as the "Architects' Declaration", and so far it has been signed by 26 associations, scientific and professional institutions from Serbia. The Petition has been open since this Monday, the number of signatories is growing rapidly.
The declaration requests the authorities to declare the Belgrade Fair a cultural monument, to draw up and adopt a detailed regulation plan for the entire area and to organize the area, and to restore and return the complex of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense to its original state, as well as to put out of force all memoranda, agreements and contracts, to cancel all appropriate decisions that are contrary to the laws, regulations and binding acts of the State of Serbia.
One of the authors of the Declaration is the architect, urban planner and spatial planner Dr. Borislav Stojkov, full professor at the University of Belgrade (retired) and full member of the Academy of Engineering Sciences of Serbia.
He is sure that those who want to demolish the buildings of the General Staff and allow skyscrapers owned by the extended family of Donald Trump to rise in their place knew that the buildings were under protection, as well as the entire complex and Prince Milos Street.
"But they are confident in their power to remove protection if it is necessary and profitable for them, or if they have some other interest." Likewise, if the laws say otherwise, they will change the laws, or if the urban plans show other verified planning solutions, they will change the plans, all according to the wishes and instructions of the investor. Protection services, whether at the republic or city level, have long been under the strong influence of the political will of the authorities. Today, we are in a situation where everything depends on the government's pressure on the institutions of protection and urban planning, which, in my opinion, is also illegal and immoral," Stojkov told Vreme.
Negligible state profit
The restoration of the General Staff is a technically complicated and very expensive undertaking, and it is difficult to secure financing for it, especially on the condition that administrative and administrative state functions are kept there. Therefore, in the case of the General Staff, the only investor could be the State.
"And she allegedly doesn't have the money or the will for that, in addition to the construction of the National Stadium, a bunch of stadiums around Serbia and other senseless investments of local importance." According to available information from financial experts, Serbia has so far invested more than 1,2 billion euros in the "Belgrade on the Water" project, which includes the value of the land at that time, the costs of activating the land, facilities that have been put to use, and the preparation of planning documents. , utility networks, etc.," explains Stojkov.
At the same time, according to the financial reports of Belgrade na vodi doo (published by Forbes Serbia, April 13.4.2024, 2019), from 145 to today, this company has earned more than 33 million euros. The direct benefit for the budget of the Republic of Serbia as a partner (2022 percent) in 2023 and 3 was about 2 million euros per year, with value added tax from which last year about XNUMX million euros were received.
"It is clear from everything that Serbia's income is incomparably lower compared to the total realized profit, and proportionally, it is absolutely disproportionate to the initial and constant investments to which, according to the contract, the Republic of Serbia has committed itself," concludes Stojkov. "Therefore, it is a question of priorities, what is more important for the successful and sustainable development of Belgrade, for which a higher degree of culture of those who make decisions is needed."
Read on full interview with Borislav Stojkov in the new issue of the weekly "Vreme", which is on newsstands from May 30.
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