**Serbia’s Railways Under Scrutiny**
The Serbian government has been criticized for its handling of a major railway project with China. Radar weekly reported that some companies involved in the reconstruction work did not exist before 2018, when the contract was signed.
These companies were given a share of the 1.57 billion Euro spent on the Serbia-Hungary railway. An investigation by Radar found that many of these firms had seen their revenues grow significantly faster than other businesses in Serbia. In some cases, revenues increased thirty-fold.
The fact that some of these companies were formed after 2018 did not seem to be a problem when they were engaged for the project. A list of over 60 subcontractors was published by Forbes Serbia, including firms that had changed their focus or ownership structure since 2018.
**Revenues Soar**
One company, Deko Team, hired manual laborers and stonemasons with no qualifications to work on a railway station building in Novi Sad. Despite this, the firm’s revenues increased 1,048 times between 2020 and 2023.
Another company, Industrija Team, was formed in August 2018 and saw its revenues increase nearly 45 times between 2020 and 2023. The owner of the firm, Tamara Milosavljevic, had only one employee in 2020 but managed to grow her business significantly over the next three years.
**Familiar Names**
Some subcontractors on the list are familiar names in investigative media. One such company is Elita-cop, owned by Siniša and Dragan Romić. The firm has delivered a total net profit exceeding three million Euro to its owners from 2020 to 2023.
Other companies with significant profits include DIS Niskogradnja, Karin komerc from Novi Sad, and several Chinese subcontractors that have established themselves in Serbia since the agreement between CRIC and CCCC and the Serbian government.
**Concerns Over Taxation**
The Radar investigation raised concerns over taxation on profits in Serbia. While revenues for some Chinese subcontractors have grown, their profits almost invariably declined, reducing the basis for taxation on profits in Serbia.
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