SSP: The Prosecution should initiate proceedings, Šapić should resign and apologize to the citizens

The Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) today demanded that the prosecution initiate proceedings, and that the mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Šapić, resign and apologize to the citizens, because, as they stated, his chief of staff offered to rig the tender to the company Kentakart.

Mila Popović, president of the Belgrade SSP, stated in a statement that the SSP requests that the prosecution initiate proceedings regarding BIRN's allegation that it has recordings on which the head of the mayor's office can be heard offering Kenkart representatives a job in a new tender if they accept the mutual termination of the contract for public transport in Belgrade.

"It is clear that the head of the cabinet did not lead the negotiations on his own and offered Kenkart another job as compensation, contrary to the law on public procurement - he could do that only with the consent or on the order of Šapić", said Popović and added that "in every decent country, after such a scandal, one immediately resigns from public office".

She also assessed that this means the end of a political career and criminal liability, and that all those responsible "after such publicly disclosed evidence, would be on the agenda immediately in the morning for independent and independent investigative bodies."

The SSP also invited the commissioner of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) for Belgrade, Ana Brnabić, to state whether it is acceptable for the SNS that the mayor's office offers to "fix" the tender.

The Balkan Research Network of Serbia (BIRN) announced that audio recordings show that Chief of Staff Šapić offered the Turkish company Kentkart, in charge of the ticket collection system in public transport, a new job on a fixed tender if they agreed to terminate the contract by mutual agreement.

Miketić: Šapić responsible for the contract with Kenkart, now he would get away with offering corrupt deals under the table and sink deeper and deeper

The representative of the party Zajedno Đorđe Miketić assessed today that it is necessary to call elections in Belgrade as soon as possible, due to the events with public transport and the company Kentkart.

In a statement, Miketić stated that "Sapić is responsible for the contract with Kentkart", and assessed that "now he would get away with offering "corrupt deals under the table and sink deeper and deeper".

He also asked why Šapić "only now" remembered that the city's contract with Kentkart is extremely harmful and the "forcible termination" of the contract leads to a situation where everyone will pay penalties for that termination.

"The answer is simple, he needs a couple of populist measures in the short term, such as cheaper tickets and free transportation for schoolchildren, new employment of party personnel... because he is only interested in the upcoming elections in Belgrade," said Miketić.

According to him, Šapić is not interested in the damage he is doing to the city and citizens, because by the time the fines are due, he will not be in the position of mayor.

"Kentakart was offered a direct contract for some kind of new lucrative and dubious job, which is an international precedent and a shame that will follow the mayor and all the citizens of Belgrade for a long time," he said.