Transparency Serbia: Publication of documents on canopy collapse incomplete

December 13, 2024.

Link to original article: https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/transparentnost-srbija-nepotpuna-dokumentacija/33239017.html

The organization Transparency Serbia (TS) announced on Friday that the Serbian Government has published incomplete documents about the collapse of the railway station canopy in Novi Sad, which killed 15 people.

The Serbian government announced on December 13 that it had published all documentation related to the canopy collapse on its website. As they stated at the time, the government website contains a total of 195 documents.

All documentation on the canopy collapse has been published, says the Serbian Government

However, part of the public says that this is not true and that the published documentation is incomplete.

As announced by the TS organization, the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure has been ordered to make publicly available all documents “at its disposal” that “relate to the possible commission of a criminal offense due to the collapse of the canopy on the station building in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024.”

“In other words, documents that this ministry does not possess for any reason (although perhaps it should have them) will not be published, nor will those that the ministry does not consider to be related to the possible commission of criminal offenses,” TS announced.

Geological engineer says Serbian government has not published complete documentation on canopy collapse

As stated in the TS statement published on December 13, no information regarding the financing and contracting of the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station has been published on the Government’s website.

“Conspicuously missing is the contract that the Government of Serbia and the Serbian Railway Infrastructure concluded with the consortium ‘Joint Venture of China Railway International Co.Ltd & China Communications Construction Company Ltd’ on May 28, 2018 for the entire works from Novi Sad to Kelebija,” it was announced.

As it is emphasized, Annex No. 4 of that contract has been published on the Government’s website. According to TS, it can be seen from that contract that a price increase was agreed due to additional work, but not Annexes 1-3.

“Annex No. 1 should contain the prices that were contracted in 2021 for certain parts of the work, including the reconstruction of the station building in Novi Sad. What this document, even though it has been published, does not contain is information on the basis of which the representatives of the state of Serbia concluded that the price they will pay for the works will be realistic,” the statement reads.

The cost of building the Belgrade-Subotica railway has also increased due to work on the station building in Novi Sad, according to published documents.

TS emphasizes that this information is crucial for understanding the financial side of the reconstruction of the Railway Station.

“When the standard public procurement procedure is applied, if there are no discriminatory conditions, the tender would show how much money someone would be willing to do the job for. In this case, the entire job (all works from Novi Sad to Kelebija) was awarded without a competitive bid, citing an intergovernmental agreement,” it was announced.

It is emphasized that, although the contractor is a Chinese consortium, it was agreed that at least 46 percent of the value of works, goods and services would come from Serbia or countries other than China.

TS explains that the subcontractors are selected by a Chinese consortium, after publishing a public call for tenders, whereby “it must not restrict competition” and “must ensure that the selection is made publicly and transparently.”

“On the other hand, the contractor (Chinese consortium), as stated in the contract, is responsible for any possible failure to fulfill the obligations of the subcontractor,” says the organization Transparency Serbia.

Around two hundred state-owned companies tasked with overseeing the reconstruction of the railway in northern Serbia

In the documents published on the Government’s website, a list of 16 hired subcontractors can be seen, but not what the tasks of each of those companies were, nor how they were selected, writes TS.

“That is why the majority of the request for access to information submitted by Transparency Serbia to the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, which the Ministry rejected, citing alleged endangerment of the investigation, is still valid,” TS writes.

With this request, this organization requested copies of the contracts that stipulated all the work performed at the Novi Sad Railway Station, as well as information on how and according to what procedure subcontractors were selected.

“The rejection of this request due to alleged endangerment of criminal proceedings is particularly unfounded in a situation when, according to the information published so far, this procedure is not being conducted at all due to a possible violation of regulations when contracting work, but only in relation to shortcomings in design, execution of works and supervision,” TS said.

Transparency Serbia called on the Government of Serbia and the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure to publish contracts, contract annexes and all other important information, not only about the railway construction project, but also all other projects that were not contracted based on the Public Procurement Law.

The publication of complete documentation is one of the demands of students who have been blocking more than 40 faculties at universities in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac since November 25th.

Another ‘Stop, Serbia’ campaign across the country

The concrete canopy of the Novi Sad station building collapsed just a few months after the station’s grand opening following a three-year reconstruction and officials’ claims that it was built to the highest European standards.

Thirteen people were arrested on suspicion of being responsible for the canopy collapse.

Among them was the former Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Goran Vesić, who was released from detention after a few days.