Nearly €2.3 million has been paid from Serbia’s state budget to the Serbian-Russian Humanitarian Centre over the past ten years, according to an investigation by Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL).
However, there is no explanation of how this money has been spent.
Authorities in Belgrade and Moscow have for years remained silent on questions regarding the work and financing of the joint centre in Niš, in southern Serbia, which was established to provide assistance in emergency situations.
Following a request for access to information of public importance, RFE/RL obtained the first data on Serbia’s annual allocations to the Centre.
Since 2014, the Centre has held a dedicated account used for transferring budget funds. A response from the Treasury Administration of the Ministry of Finance shows that more than 268 million dinars (€2.29 million) has been deposited into this account.
By the time of publication, neither the Centre, the Russian Embassy, nor the Government of Serbia and its ministries had responded to questions regarding the Centre’s role and finances.
The Serbian-Russian Centre was established 14 years ago by an intergovernmental agreement, and Moscow describes it as “the most significant in the Balkans” for responding to emergencies and natural disasters. Firefighting equipment, vehicles and training grounds are located near the country’s second-largest airport.
As a rule, the Centre responds upon request from Serbia’s Ministry of the Interior.
Western countries, however, have expressed suspicion that it may be an attempt to establish an intelligence and military base – pointing also to its proximity to a NATO military base in Kosovo.
How was the Centre funded?
The Treasury Administration’s response shows that funds were paid to the Serbian-Russian Centre from the budget of Serbia’s Ministry of the Interior.
Although the Centre’s account has been active since 2014, the submitted reports do not record any payments in the first two years.
The first available data dates from 2016.
Annual amounts vary, but rose sharply in 2024, when around 55 million dinars (€470,000) was paid from the budget. In 2025, the Centre received 48 million dinars (€410,000). The stated purposes of the payments include “trade in goods and services”, “other capital grants to international organisations”, or “other transactions”.
However, there are no more precise explanations—for example, whether this public money is intended for salaries, equipment purchases, the Centre’s activities, or something else.
No publicly available reports on its work exist.
“This level of non-transparency regarding the financing, management and status of an institution using public funds raises questions of legitimacy, accountability and proper oversight,” said Maja Bjeloš of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy.
Who finances the Centre?
According to a 2012 intergovernmental agreement, the Centre falls under the authority of Serbia’s Ministry of the Interior and Russia’s Ministry for Civil Defence and Emergency Situations. It is supposed to be registered as an intergovernmental humanitarian non-profit organisation.
However, publicly available databases in Serbia do not show whether it has such a status. The Centre has its own registration and tax numbers, but it does not appear in the Serbian Business Registers Agency database, where its legal status could be verified.
The agreement establishing the Centre states that its operations may be funded from state budgets, grants and donations, or income generated through services such as training. In addition to the Treasury account used for state transfers, the Centre has 16 other bank accounts – 11 in foreign currency and six in dinars.
All were opened on the same day, 15 February 2023, at the private Aik Bank.
A search of the National Bank of Serbia’s register confirmed that all of them are active. It is not known whether these accounts are used for additional financing, who pays money into them, or for what purpose. The Centre did not respond to RFE/RL’s questions on this matter.
RFE/RL previously established that Serbia financed the building complex near Niš Airport, where the Centre has been located since 2012, with $1.8 million.
At the time, the Centre stated that the Russian side had invested $41 million.
Neither the Centre nor the authorities in Serbia and Russia responded to questions about how salaries, equipment and other costs are currently financed.
There is no official data on how many people the Centre employs. The website lists the names of the director and co-director from the Serbian and Russian sides, but there are no publicly available decisions on their appointments.
Who is trained at the Centre?
The official purpose of the Serbian-Russian Humanitarian Centre is to provide support in emergencies such as accidents and natural disasters.
According to its statements and social media posts, its focus is on training firefighters and rescuers from Serbia, as well as pupils, students, volunteers and mountaineers. According to its 2025 report, around 1,300 participants passed through the Centre.
Instructors – many from the academy of Russia’s Ministry of Civil Defence – trained them in prevention, response and emergency management. Most participants were members of the Emergency Situations Sector of Serbia’s Ministry of the Interior. Firefighting units of Serbia’s oil company NIS – under US sanctions since January 2025 due to majority Russian ownership – were also trained at the Centre. Members of the Civil Protection Administration of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, also attended training.
The Centre claims that its equipment and machinery were lent to Serbia’s Emergency Situations Sector more than 2,800 times during 2025. “Due to limited transparency regarding its activities and results, it is difficult to reliably assess the Centre’s actual scope and contribution to civil protection,” said Maja Bjeloš.
In 2025, a new firefighting and rescue training ground was opened. Its cost and funding source were not disclosed. Delegations from Serbia’s Ministry of the Interior and Russia’s emergency ministry, led by senior Russian officials, have visited the Centre.
Over the past two years, Centre personnel have also taken part in exercises in Russia and Belarus, including the large-scale Safe Arctic exercise held in Russia’s Arctic zone in late January 2025.
The exercise, which included testing and showcasing new equipment, took place amid growing military confrontation between Russia and the West in this strategically important region.
Who is asking questions about the Centre?
The European Union has also asked Serbia about the activities of the Centre.
In a response to RFE/RL, Brussels recalled that it had already requested information in 2023 about the Centre’s operations in Niš.
“It is important to ensure that the Centre’s activities are fully aligned with the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, of which Serbia is a member, as well as with Serbia’s broader obligations in the context of EU accession negotiations,” the European Commission stated.
Centres such as the one in Niš, established on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement with Russia, do not exist in EU member states.
As a member of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, Serbia has used EU assistance multiple times – for example during the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastating floods of May 2014.
More than €250 million in aid has so far been provided to Serbia’s civil protection sector from Brussels, according to the EU Delegation in Serbia. The EU also stressed that it expects Serbia to act as a reliable partner. “As we have repeatedly stated, relations with Russia and Vladimir Putin’s regime cannot be ‘business as usual’ while Russia is waging an unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression on European soil in Ukraine,” the European Commission said.
Despite calls from Brussels, Serbia has refused to impose sanctions on the Kremlin since February 2022.
Close ties between officials in Belgrade and Moscow have continued.
In previous years, particular attention was drawn to Russia’s request that Serbia grant diplomatic status to the Centre’s staff. This special status would entail certain privileges, such as freedom of movement not only in Serbia but also in the region, as well as immunity in the event of a criminal offence committed on Serbian territory.
Serbian authorities have not granted such status so far, but have not responded to RFE/RL about the current state of the request.
Former diplomat Srećko Đukić noted that Western countries strongly opposed granting diplomatic status to the Centre, due to suspicions that its role goes beyond a humanitarian mandate – namely, that it could serve as a platform for strengthening Russia’s political and security influence in Southeast Europe.
“They consider it an intelligence hub of the Russian Federation in the Balkans – a centre for intelligence activities. That is how they treat it,” he said.
These allegations have been rejected over the years by both the Centre and the Serbian authorities. Some opposition groups in Serbia have also called for the Centre in Niš to be closed and for the intergovernmental agreement under which it was established to be annulled.
However, Srećko Đukić sees no willingness on the part of the authorities to take such a step. “They are neither capable nor brave enough to abolish it. The Centre does not bother them, and it may serve them as leverage for Russian support, because the authorities’ ties with Russia are linked to highly sensitive issues such as relations with Kosovo and energy – oil and gas,” he said.
He added that the Centre’s existence is important for Moscow, particularly in the context of confrontation with the West following the invasion of Ukraine. “For Russia, it is very important that the Centre remains, from a political and security perspective. By its very definition, it belongs to the security sector, which is highly sensitive, flexible and can be used in various situations,” Đukić concluded.
Emergency response centres similar to the one in Niš also exist in other countries with close political ties to Moscow, including some former Soviet republics.
Armenia, for example, is among the countries where Russia has maintained such a centre over the past decade, which cooperates with the one in Serbia.
(Radio Free Europe, 09.04.2026)
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/srbija-rusija-centar-nis-budzet-finansiranje/33725694.html