The project to collect and treat wastewater in Belgrade is currently on hold. As a source from the Serbian Government tells Forbes Serbia, the project will have to wait because there is not enough money.
It is therefore not among the priorities for infrastructure development. Although the source adds that, from a civilised society perspective, it is important for the capital to build the necessary treatment plant and stop discharging everything into the rivers, the project is simply expensive.
That the project has been “pushed aside” is also confirmed by the national budget. No spending on this purpose is planned from the state budget this year. Initially, two billion dinars had been earmarked.
According to publicly available reports, the Chinese company China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), which was supposed to carry out the first phase of the project, namely the construction of sections of the unfinished collector network (interceptor), terminated its contract last year with the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure and the public utility company Belgrade Waterworks and Sewerage. The contract had originally been signed in 2020.
The French take over
The first phase of the project is now expected to be taken over by the French company SADE. Following the termination of the contract with CMEC, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with SADE.
The second phase of the project involves the construction of a wastewater treatment plant in Veliko Selo. French companies SUEZ and Vinci are also expected to be involved in this phase.
A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed with them in 2024, concerning this phase of the project. In addition to constructing the plant, Suez would also be responsible for operating and maintaining the facility through a joint venture with the public utility company Belgrade Waterworks and Sewerage.
Whether any progress has been made beyond these non-binding memoranda – that is, whether commercial contracts have been signed for either of the two phases, and what work has actually been carried out on the project – remains unclear, with no official answers available so far.
Forbes Serbia sent questions concerning the project to the Ministry of Construction. Questions were also sent to the headquarters of the French companies SUEZ, Vinci and SADE, but no responses were received.
Nevertheless, information on how the project has progressed over the past several years can be found in the Ministry’s public reports.
Belgrade’s wastewater problem
Belgrade does not have an adequately developed system for the collection and treatment of wastewater. Around 1.2 million residents of the city’s central municipalities are connected to the central sewerage system, which covers approximately 85 per cent of Belgrade’s sewerage network. All wastewater from the central sewerage system is discharged untreated into the Sava and Danube rivers.
Most of the existing outfalls are located along the riverbanks in the wider area where the Sava meets the Danube – effectively in the centre of Belgrade.
The development concept for the central sewerage system is based on the construction of a collector system – an interceptor – and a wastewater treatment plant in Veliko Selo. This concept has been reaffirmed several times over the past 50 years through the preparation of technical and planning documentation. A significant part of the system was built between 1980 and 2012.
The plan calls for the construction of the missing sections of the collector system – the interceptor – including two pumping stations, as well as the construction of the Veliko Selo treatment plant.
Once the plant is built, around 85 per cent of the wastewater from the area covered by Belgrade’s sewerage system will be treated.
The remaining wastewater will be treated at four smaller plants, in accordance with the defined development concept for Belgrade’s sewerage system.
Once the project is completed, the sewer outfalls into the Sava near the Belgrade Fair and the Port of Belgrade, as well as the Danube outfalls in Zemun, New Belgrade, near Pančevo Bridge and Ada Huja, will be closed. The wastewater will instead be directed to the future largest wastewater treatment plant in Veliko Selo.
These details concerning the current state of wastewater management and the purpose of the project can be found in the project documentation, specifically the Project for the Collection and Treatment of Wastewater from the Central Sewerage System of Belgrade, prepared by the Jaroslav Černi Institute for the Development of Water Resources.
Project timeline since 2020
In 2020, the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure and Belgrade Waterworks and Sewerage signed a Cooperation Agreement and a Contractual Agreement with the Chinese company China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) for the “Project for the Collection and Treatment of Wastewater from the Central Sewerage System of the City of Belgrade”.
According to reports and announcements, the company was supposed to be responsible for the first phase of the project. At the time the contract was signed, the first phase included investigative work, design and construction of sections of the collector system, i.e. the interceptor. It also included the construction of a new Ušće pumping station and the reconstruction of the Mostar pumping station, as well as the design of the Veliko Selo treatment plant and construction of the “preliminary treatment” facility as part of the plant.
According to reports from previous years, the second phase was to include completion of the “water line” and construction of the treatment plant, together with the entire “sludge line” within the Veliko Selo facility.
According to one of the reports, implementation of the contract began in July 2020. At that point, CMEC began work on the technical documentation and investigative studies.
In 2022, the Serbian Parliament approved a €203.77 million loan from UniCredit Bank AG, BNP Paribas Fortis SA/NV and BNP Paribas SA to finance the first phase of the project.
Reports on the Ministry’s work published in 2023 and early 2024 stated that, at that time, work was under way on the design of 14 sections of the collector system. Preliminary designs had been completed for all sections except Section 13. Location conditions had also been issued for the Ušće pumping station, while location conditions for sections of the collector network were being obtained successively. An analysis for the Veliko Selo treatment plant was also under preparation, which was intended to serve as the strategic basis for construction of the facility.
Changes to the phases and termination of the CMEC contract
A report from the end of 2024 states that, in October of that year, the Government adopted Amendment No. 4 to the contract with CMEC.
Under the amendment, the preparation of all studies and the design and technical documentation for the collector network itself would be completely separated from the documentation for the Veliko Selo treatment plant. This, the report states, was done to enable separate contracting for the treatment plant.
Following the signing of the amendment, the first phase was to cover investigative work, the design and construction of the missing elements of the collector system, construction of the new Ušće pumping station, reconstruction of the Mostar pumping station, and design of the Veliko Selo treatment plant and the discharge collector to the Danube to the preliminary design stage. Phase 2 would cover the actual construction of the treatment plant and the discharge collector to the Danube.
However, a Ministry report from early 2025 shows that the Chinese contractor twice decided not to sign the amendment, despite the fact that, according to the report, the amendment had been agreed upon during joint negotiations.
The company subsequently informed the Ministry and Belgrade Waterworks and Sewerage at the end of December 2024 that it intended to terminate the contract. At the beginning of April 2025, it also informed them that, due to the “failure to fulfil the preconditions” for the contractual agreement to enter into force within the stipulated period, it considered the agreement, together with its accompanying amendments, to have ceased to be valid. It also stated that, under the contractual provisions, neither party was entitled to make any claims for damages.
The reports show that contractual cooperation with CMEC has been completely terminated.
Search for a new contractor
Following the termination, the Ministry stated in reports from mid-2025 that it had held talks with companies interested in carrying out the work under Phase 1, which the Chinese company had abandoned.
A report covering the final three months of 2025 specifically states that the Ministry held meetings concerning Phase 1 with the Chinese company Covec and the French company NGE/SADE. Both companies reviewed the documentation previously prepared by CMEC.
Ultimately, according to the report, it was decided that a Memorandum of Understanding for the work under Phase 1, namely the construction of the sewerage collector, would be concluded with the French company SADE.
The memorandum was concluded, the report states, taking into account the fact that the second phase of the same project, concerning the Veliko Selo treatment plant, was also being developed with the French companies Vinci and Suez. It was also taken into consideration that the French Ministry of Economy and Finance was interested in cooperation and was considering participating in financing the project.
According to the Ministry’s report for the beginning of 2026, no commercial contract had yet been signed for either phase.
Forbes Serbia did not receive a response from the Ministry of Construction. Among other things, we asked what stage the project is currently at. We also requested information on whether commercial contracts had been signed for Phase 1 and Phase 2, as well as what work and services had been completed to date.
(Forbes Serbia, 23.09.2026)