Apr 1, 2026
Link to the original reference: https://forbes.n1info.rs/biznis/propisi/otkrivamo-na-ekspo-dosad-otkriveno-56-neprijavljenih-radnika-i-tri-slucaja-povreda-ovo-su-kompanije-i-preduzetnici-zateceni-u-prekrsaju/
Photo: Forbes SerbiaThe labor inspectorate found violations of regulations by 16 entrepreneurs and companies engaged in the Expo 2027 construction site and discovered more than 50 workers who were working “on the black” at the time of the inspection. In addition, the inspection had to go to the field three times due to work-related injuries of employees who performed work at the construction site. This is shown in the report of this inspection, which Forbes Serbia had access to.
The document shows that the Belgrade department of the Labor Inspectorate has carried out 83 inspections since the beginning of the construction of the complex in August 2023.
“Due to established illegalities in the field of labor relations and safety and health at work, 17 requests to initiate misdemeanor proceedings were submitted against companies and entrepreneurs, while due to established irregularities, three decisions were made to prohibit work and five decisions to eliminate irregularities,” the document states.
The Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) recently announced the discovery that the labor inspection found that the workers of the main contractor PowerChina and the Antares construction company did not have proper registrations at the time the inspection visited the construction site. However, they are far from the only ones.
The report shows that the registered business entities allegedly violated laws on labor, safety and health at work and the employment of foreigners. The most common violations were failure to report workers , as well as failure to report the start of work within the deadline.
No protected
In total, 56 workers were found at the Expo construction site without adequate registration.
Leading the way are foreign workers, i.e. 40 of them who were not provided with a single permit to work and stay in Serbia. There were 16 domestic workers without regulated labor legal status .
A Forbes source close to the Government of Serbia, who gave us access to this report, states that the document shows that there are no protected persons in the EXPO 2027 project.
“The controls of the labor inspection show that the Expo project is not privileged and that the same laws apply to it as for all other projects in Serbia. Also, about 4,000 people work on the construction site every day . So far, 56 workers without a permit have been discovered, which represents less than 1.5 percent of the total number of employees. These are isolated cases,” according to our interlocutor.
Who did not register workers?
Due to undeclared workers, the inspection filed requests to initiate misdemeanor proceedings against 10 companies and entrepreneurs.
PowerChina was already mentioned among them . The company did not obtain a single work and residence permit for the four Chinese nationals employed , according to the inspection.
The Chinese were not the only ones who did not provide work permits for their foreign workers, Turkish companies also “made sure”. Yunus Emre Construction did not have permits for its eight workers from Turkey. Alperenler construction did not obtain a permit for two workers from Turkey .
It is interesting that both companies are currently blocked. And Yunus Emre also lost his PIB (the company was taken over from Turkey by an Azerbaijani citizen more than 10 months ago). Yunus was founded in July 2023 and Alperenler in December 2024. Both are registered for building construction.
By the way, Yunus Emre was registered twice. Once because of the permits for eight workers from Turkey, and the second time because of non-reporting of those engaged in work to the mandatory social insurance.
Domestic
The mentioned Antares construction is a company owned by a domestic person, but it was also reported for not providing work permits to foreign workers. They did not have work permits for a total of 26 employed persons from Turkey , the inspection report shows.
During yesterday’s data check, Antares also had his account blocked.
Among domestic legal entities in the inspection report, the design, engineering and consulting company PIN Consulting Center from Belgrade is mentioned. There is also Tiaco doo from Zemun, which also did not report employed persons. This company has also had its account blocked for 231 days, according to the official register of the NBS.
A number of entrepreneurs also had a problem with the labor inspection. The entrepreneur Figaro 61S from Belgrade did not submit a single application for mandatory social insurance (he has been blocked for more than 200 days, and the last decision of the APR registrar is that he is temporarily suspended from May 2025). The Caka gradnja business from Čestin was reported for the same violation (it was founded in September 2024 and was already deleted in April 2025), as was the Tebek-Ing business from Kruševac. Hidrotim Mitrović’s entrepreneurial activity was reported for the same reason.
For the carpentry installation business of S. Alumont from Barič, the report states – work “on the black”. The employer has not concluded an employment contract or other contract stipulated by the Labor Law with the employees.
Other violations
The inspectors also determined that the entrepreneurial shop Hidrotim Mitrović from Prnjavor did not provide the prescribed medical examination for an employee at a workplace with an increased risk. According to the inspection, the entrepreneurial shop Elvis gradnja from Belgrade did not provide preventive measures for the safe and healthy work of its employees.
Several companies and entrepreneurs did not report the start of work on the construction site to the labor inspection within the legally prescribed period. Among them are Lance WGH from Belgrade, RSK 2011 from Ugrinovci, entrepreneur Nikola Pavlović , as well as the entrepreneurial shop Geodetic Bureau Geobs from Krupnje.
Also, three inspections regarding injuries at work of employees were carried out at Alperenler, Elvis construction and Fit construction from Mionica (this business was deleted in February of this year).
No answer
Antares and PowerChina did not comment on the CINS research allegations. Forbes Serbia sent a request for comment to the other companies and entrepreneurs mentioned in the report, however, no one responded to our inquiry (we were unable to identify one of the entrepreneurs because there are several of them with the same name, while the email for the other was returned due to an incorrect address registered in the APR). We asked for confirmation as to whether they were under the supervision of the labor inspection and whether proceedings were initiated against them, i.e. a measure was imposed. As well as why the violation occurred and how those procedures were ended if there were any.
Fit construction: The inspection did not find any omissions
The company Fit gradnja doo from Mionica sent additional information to the Forbes Serbia portal in order to accurately inform the public.
The company says that “the Fit gradnja business was deleted from the register on 02/03/2026, but on the same day it continued operating in a different legal form – as Fit gradnja doo Mionica, in accordance with the law”.
“When it comes to allegations of injuries at work, we emphasize that Fit gradnja operates in accordance with all legal regulations in the field of safety and health at work. We emphasize that we respected the procedures and adhered to them in detail during last year’s unfortunate event, when one worker was injured, and otherwise in our daily work.” In Fit Construction, they add that “the competent institutions, including the labor inspection, did not find any errors in the company’s actions.”