Retired university professor Danica Popović has stated that the Students’ List should include the cancellation of the Expo 2027 exhibition as part of its policy platform against corruption. We asked our interviewees what they think of that proposal.
Miljan Salata, an architect and candidate for the Students’ List – Students Win electoral list, believes it is necessary to review the contracts, the project’s justification, safety, and whether it generally serves the public interest.
“Of course, we also need to review the safety of these structures, not just at Expo, but beyond Expo, across Serbia, because of what happened in Novi Sad. We, as professionals, must take responsibility and review this, and guarantee the safety of all buildings that are old or built in an unsafe manner. Regarding cancellation – whether it can be cancelled or not, I don’t think we can discuss that until everything has been reviewed. We don’t have access to the contracts; we practically don’t know what has been signed,” Salata states.
Economist Milan Kovačević advises against taking rash action in either direction without first gathering information on the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of the project.
“I think we should do the opposite: insist that, if the opposition wins, which I hope they do, all matters under question should be examined with the help of experts and people who can study them best, to see what is better: to stop it or let it run, because that is how things are done in business anyway. One shouldn’t propose rash things at all,” says Kovačević, who adds that he hopes the future government “will be steadfast, that it will use experts, listen to what the people think, assess what the damage and the benefits are, and then make the most sensible decisions.”
Estela Radonjić Živkov, also a candidate for the Students’ List – Students Win electoral list, states that she understands the reasons why Professor Danica Popović is raising the issue of Expo, particularly considering the scale of public funds and the way this project is being implemented. However, she believes the answer must not be a “pre-determined decision.”
“The students’ plan is very clear on this – its third point provides for complete transparency in public procurement and an audit of state projects, especially those that were non-transparent, overpriced, or implemented through special legal regimes. Expo is certainly one of such projects, and it must undoubtedly be the subject of a serious independent audit. And only once we establish all the facts – what has been contracted, how much it costs, what has been spent of that, what the state’s obligations are, whether the state will benefit from all of that, and what parts of this project are actually in the public interest – can we answer the question of whether Expo should happen or not, or rather, we can decide on its further fate,” says Radonjić Živkov.
However, Virdžinija Đeković Miketić from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts states that the specialised Expo exhibition has not been held since 2017 because candidate countries withdrew due to the project’s unprofitability, and that the decision to host Expo in Serbia is illegitimate without “discussion and broader debate, without a plan and qualitative thinking.” Instead, she views Expo as an umbrella for corruption.
“For a country like Serbia, an international exhibition could be useful in terms of international relations, diplomacy, cultural exchange, and connecting academic and business partners across Europe. The problem, however, is the way this project is being implemented in Serbia. Therefore, the Students’ List’s proposal should move in the direction of halting and delaying the implementation of the Expo project and thoroughly reviewing it. This implies reviewing past decisions on programmatic and infrastructural priorities, conducting an economic forensic investigation of the entire project, and fully opening up documentation on both public and non-public procurement,” says Đeković Miketić, while adding that the first step following a change of government must be to assess all the consequences of potentially stopping or delaying the start of the event, alongside disclosing all documentation related to the project’s progress so far.
(Danas, 21.09.2026)
https://www.danas.rs/vesti/ekonomija/studentska-lista-izbori-ekspo/