The Inquiry Commission investigating responsibility for the collapse of the canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad has come into possession of another document that further points to the execution of blatantly corrupt dealings and confirms that the works on the reconstruction and modernisation of the railway line from Novi Sad to Kelebija were carried out in violation of applicable laws.
The document in question is the Contract for the execution of protective archaeological works and archaeological supervision, signed on 28 November 2022 by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Novi Sad and the contractor, the Chinese consortium CRIC-CCCC. On behalf of the Institute, the document was signed by the then director Siniša Jokić, and on behalf of the contractor by Zhou Xin, as can also be seen from the relevant document.
It is important to emphasise that this contract is one of many signed on the basis of the Protocol on the implementation of measures for the protection of archaeological sites of 17 June 2022, which we exclusively published in a previous text for Radar and which is in direct conflict with Articles 610 and 611 of the Law on Obligations, as well as with the Loan Agreement, which prohibits the payment of any commissions. In addition, the Protocol is also contrary to the provisions of the Commercial Contract that the Government signed with the Chinese contractor.
55.4 million dinars for the first phase of archaeological works
More specifically, the Contract specifies the costs for the first phase of protective archaeological works at 10 sites within the territory of the City of Novi Sad intersected by the route of the Novi Sad–Kelebija railway line, as well as for archaeological supervision outside archaeological sites. For the first phase of protective archaeological works covering an area of 177,255 square metres, costs of 45.3 million dinars were planned, and for archaeological supervision 10.1 million dinars.
According to this specification, the obligations of the Institute relating to protective archaeological works include, among other things, the engagement of a professional team of 20 members for 120 working days at a cost of 36 million dinars gross, which corresponds to a cost of six million dinars per month or, per professional, 300,000 dinars gross, that is 185,000 dinars net per month.
A similar fee was agreed for archaeological supervision. For two professionals, who were to be engaged for 240 working days, a total cost of 7.2 million dinars was envisaged, or 600,000 dinars per month, that is 300,000 dinars gross or around 185,000 dinars net for each of them, as can also be seen from the facsimile of the document in Figure 2. It is therefore striking that professionals performing different types of work, protective archaeological works and archaeological supervision, were paid equally.
On the other hand, the average net salary in the Republic of Serbia in November 2022, when the disputed contract was signed, was more than half lower and amounted to around 78,000 dinars. Moreover, according to data from the Culture Trade Union operating within the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia, in cultural heritage protection institutions founded by the Republic of Serbia, the average salary of employees with higher education at that time was noticeably below the national average and amounted to 71,900 dinars.
In line with these data, according to the Institute’s report for the third quarter of 2022, published in the Institution’s Work Information Bulletin, the net salary of director Siniša Jokić at that time amounted to 81,022.7 dinars, while the average gross salary per employee was around 90,000 dinars, or about 60,000 dinars net.
2,040 euros per month for the rental of each of five vehicles
Even more striking are the costs of renting off-road vehicles – a total of 8.6 million dinars for protective archaeological works and archaeological supervision, or about 74,000 euros at the average exchange rate for that year. Thus, according to the cost specification for protective archaeological works, the rental of four off-road vehicles for 120 working days was planned for a total amount of 5.8 million dinars. In other words, the contracted rental of each vehicle for those six months cost 1.44 million dinars, that is 240,000 dinars or about 2,040 euros per month, or 68 euros per day.
Similarly, for archaeological supervision over a period of 240 working days, the rental of one off-road vehicle was planned for a total amount of 2.9 million dinars, which is a cost of 240,000 dinars or 2,040 euros per month, or 68 euros per day.
If we compare these prices with market prices for renting an off-road vehicle such as the Dacia Duster for 2025, since we do not have data for 2022, we will notice enormous discrepancies, despite the fact that current prices are certainly higher than those from three years ago, at least due to inflation. Namely, according to the 2025 price list, the daily rental of this off-road vehicle is 60 euros, but with an increase in the number of rental days, a significant discount applies, so the price for long-term rental of six to twelve months is 429 euros per month, excluding VAT.
At the same time, under Article 8 of the Commercial Contract, the state as financier and Serbian Railways Infrastructure as investor are obliged to exempt the Chinese contractor from the payment of VAT and customs duties. On the basis of the Protocol and Annexes 2, 3 and 4 of the Commercial Contract, the contractor serves merely as a pass-through intermediary and, on behalf of the financier and the investor, pays the subcontractors engaged in the archaeological works.
Leaving aside the fact that the current rental price of 429 euros per month already includes vehicle registration, regular servicing, comprehensive and compulsory insurance, replacement of summer and winter tyres, 24/7 roadside assistance, a replacement vehicle in the event of a breakdown and up to 24,000 kilometres driven per year, which would amount to 200 kilometres per day for protective archaeological works (120 working days) and 100 kilometres per day for archaeological supervision (240 working days). It should be noted that the area of the City of Novi Sad is 700 square kilometres, or, when reduced to the area of a square, 26.5 kilometres in each direction.
All in all, the market offer of 429 euros per month in 2025 brings us to a price of 14.3 euros per day for a Dacia Duster off-road vehicle, or a total of 10,300 euros for four off-road vehicles for six months and 5,100 euros for one off-road vehicle for 12 months. Altogether, this amounts to 15,400 euros, which is almost five times less than the 74,000 euros specified in the disputed contract. Moreover, it is customary, when more than one vehicle is rented for a longer period, to receive an additional discount in the range of 15 to 25 per cent. Given that in this specific case five off-road vehicles were rented, and if a 20 per cent discount is applied, the total price comes to 12,000 euros, which is six times less than the specified amount.
The price increased from the agreed 5.5 to 18.7 million dollars
Finally, no less interesting is the information from the Contract that the Institute’s professional service began archaeological supervision of earthworks on 9 May 2022, that is, three days before obtaining the Decision of 12 May 2022. In other words, carrying out archaeological works without a decision is treated as work without the prescribed conditions, which constitutes grounds for a ban on works and the initiation of misdemeanour proceedings, and in more serious cases, other forms of liability.
Labour costs two and a half times above the average net salary and vehicle rental prices five to six times higher than market rates point to a well-coordinated corrupt scheme and undoubtedly set off alarm bells, especially when it is taken into account that archaeological supervision began several days before the permit to carry out that work was obtained.
This inflation of costs and, consequently, the financial damage inflicted on the citizens of Serbia is in line with the assessment of the Inquiry Commission that works on this section of the railway line were overpriced by around 2.5 times, that is, that the objective construction costs should amount to about 510 million euros, while 1.24 billion euros has so far been paid, with these payments not yet completed.
Similarly, the Order to Conduct an Investigation of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime states that certain subcontractors on the first phase of protective archaeological works charged prices that were up to 500 per cent, or six times, above the real costs of the works performed, while the price of the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station under the Commercial Contract was supposed to be 4.7 million euros, or 5.5 million dollars at the average exchange rate in 2018, increased 3.4 times to 18.7 million dollars, as Radar wrote about in the article The 115 Million Dollar Blow to the State.
Yes, corruption kills. It very quickly moves from papers and figures into real tragedies, such as the collapse of the canopy in Novi Sad, where people were killed and seriously injured because the plundering of public resources and the political interests of those in power were placed above a fundamental human right, the right to life.
*The authors of this article are professors at the University of Belgrade and members of the Inquiry Commission investigating responsibility for the collapse of the canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad.
(Radar, 19.01.2026)
https://radar.nova.rs/ekonomija/novi-sumnjivi-ugovor-o-radovima-na-pruzi/