The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has confirmed that it has launched an investigation into potential misuse of EU funds in connection with the reconstruction of the Novi Sad railway station.
The EPPO is an independent office responsible for investigating and prosecuting "criminal offences against the EU budget".
The investigation, they said, was launched due to great public interest, but in a written notice to the BBC Serbian editorial staff, they added that they were not revealing details so as not to influence the course of the process.
"The EPPO must decide on the exercise of its own competence when fraud has been committed in relation to EU funds allocated to non-EU countries or non-participating Member States," they explain in the letter.
The canopy of the recently reconstructed Novi Sad railway station collapsed on November 1, 2023 - killing 15 people and seriously injuring two.
The collapse of the canopy triggered mass protests across the country, led by students who have been blocking universities for months and demanding criminal responsibility for the incident. Novi Sad tragedy.
The protests point out that corruption in infrastructure projects, and especially in the reconstruction of the Novi Sad station, led to the tragedy.
- About the canopy and the quarry: Can corruption kill and how
- Three charged with corruption in canopy collapse
- Who has been arrested in the fight against corruption and what does it mean?
Work on the station, built in 1964, lasted from autumn 2021 to summer 2024, and cost 65 million euros.
The station's renovation was carried out as part of a major reconstruction of the railway from Belgrade to the state border with Hungary.
Although the top authorities said immediately after the tragedy that the canopy had not been reconstructed, some experts denied this.
The presentation of official project documentation confirmed that there was also work on the canopy.
The main contractor for the station was a Chinese consortium. China Railway International Company (CRIC), but there were also many subcontractors.
It is not clear at this time whether money from EU funds was used for the works at the station or for some other parts of the project to reconstruct the railway from Belgrade to the border with Hungary, one of the 27 EU members.
In an earlier interview with Happy Television, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that a total of 65,5 million euros were spent on works at the Novi Sad station.
"15 million 658 thousand was spent on the station building. 22 million 536 thousand on tracks and platforms. 920 million 20 thousand on electronic facilities. 436 million XNUMX thousand on telecommunications equipment," He said Vucic.
Due to the Novi Sad tragedy, the prosecutor's office is investigating 13 ljudi, including former Minister of Transport Goran Vesić and former Director of the Serbian Railway Infrastructure Jelena Tanasković, who are defending themselves from freedom.
Four months after the Novi Sad tragedy, indictments have been filed against three more people for corruption and failures in technical supervision of the works carried out at the railway station.
The investigation into the involvement of two members of the Commission for Technical Supervision of Works was suspended due to lack of evidence, said then the Chief Prosecutor of the VJP Nenad Stefanović.
The case is being handled in parallel by the Novi Sad Prosecutor's Office, but on February 12, part of the investigation into the canopy collapse was transferred to the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime.
- Inquiry Commission: Five controversial points in the reconstruction of the canopy in Novi Sad
- Canopy collapse in Novi Sad: What experts say
Students in the blockade at the end of 2024 requested from Zagorke Dolovac, the Supreme Public Prosecutor in Serbia, to publish complete documentation on the reconstruction of the railway station.
Then, in front of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office building in downtown Belgrade, where several ministries are located, they raised hundreds of letters in the air demanding that the prosecutor "start doing her job" and fulfill their demands.
From her office they communicated that they are "dedicated to this goal with full professional attention", and that the financial aspects of the business of all companies that participated in the reconstruction of the canopy are also being carefully examined.
Competences of the EU Public Prosecutor's Office
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is headed by Romanian Laura Codruca Kovesi.
22 member states joined the Office.
Serbia is not a member, nor are other candidates for membership in the European Union, but in 2018 it signed a cooperation agreement with the European Office for Judicial Cooperation (EUROJUST).
The EPPO investigates, prosecutes and adjudicates cases against the EU's financial interests in the member states, including money laundering, corruption and general consumption tax fraud involving damages exceeding €10 million, the European Public Prosecutor's Office explained in a previous written response to the BBC.
In non-EU countries, the EPPO may also be competent in certain fraud situations concerning Union funds paid to those countries, wrote Laura Kovesi's office.
In parallel with the protests, news circulated on social media that the European Public Prosecutor was allegedly coming to Serbia to investigate the spending of European money in Serbia, but her office denied these allegations.
In the midst of the protests, a meeting took place between the Supreme Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac and the EU Ambassador to Serbia Emanuel Gioffre, who, as reported by then stated, discussed the possibilities of establishing cooperation between the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office and the EPPO office and exchanging information regarding potential corruption and misuse of EU funds in Serbia.
- The fight against corruption in the era of the Progressive Party: What has been done from 2012 to today
- Students ask Chief Prosecutor Dolovac to investigate the tragedy in Novi Sad
- The former Bulgarian prime minister was detained - the investigation is led by the EU prosecutor
Who is Laura Kodruca Kovesi?
She is the former head of the Romanian Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), which she took over in 2013, after which the number of corruption convictions in Romania increased drastically.
She is the first European public prosecutor, although the Romanian government at the time strongly opposed her selection for this position.
"As a team, we are dedicated, determined and thorough, and in just two months since we launched our operations on June 1, we have registered more than 1.200 reports of fraud affecting the EU's financial interests," Laura Kovesi told the daily Danas in August 2021 about the work of the office she heads.
As prosecutor, Kovesi initiated criminal proceedings against controversial businessman Sebastian Gica, who was granted political asylum in Serbia in 2018 after illegally entering the country. wrote Today.
The Gica case is one of the biggest corruption scandals in Romania, closely linked to local business circles, security services and politicians.
He is accused of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Corruption in Serbia: Worst position since 2012, Transparency International report
- "Pandora Papers" file: Papers surfaced about 24 apartments in Bulgaria, Mali still denies being the owner
- Who is Nenad Nešić, the detained minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, suspected of corruption?
BBC is in Serbian from now on and on YouTube, follow us HERE.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram i Viber. If you have a topic suggestion for us, please contact bbcnasrpskom@bbc.co.uk
Bonus video:
