The European Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating possible misuse of European Union funds in connection with the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station, Chief European Prosecutor Laura Koveši confirmed to RTS on Tuesday.
She stated that these are loans granted by the European Investment Bank for the reconstruction of the railway and station.
The basis for opening an investigation, she explained, was a complaint from a private individual.
She added that she expects cooperation from the prosecutor's office in Serbia in providing information and evidence.
Kovesi explained that the European Public Prosecutor's Office will not investigate the accident itself, in which 15 people lost their lives, but that it is solely responsible for possible embezzlement of European funds.
The courts in Belgium or Luxembourg are competent for the procedure, as the potentially damaged institutions are headquartered there, Koveši stated.
She explained that the European Public Prosecutor's Office also has jurisdiction in third countries in situations where EU money is used and there is potential damage to any of the European institutions.
"We are not investigating the accident itself in Novi Sad, we are not investigating how these young people and victims died. That is not our jurisdiction. Our jurisdiction is to see whether, in the total amount of money allocated through the European project, there was any embezzlement of EU money, corruption or money laundering in relation to EU money," she stated.
The European Chief Prosecutor said that in 2022, the European Public Prosecutor's Office began discussions with the Public Prosecutor's Office of Serbia to sign a working arrangement aimed at improving cooperation and establishing contact points.
As she stated, after they sent the draft document to Belgrade, they have not yet received a response about its signing.
"In the meantime, I must say that we have sent three requests in three different cases to the Public Prosecutor's Office and in all of those cases, Serbian prosecutors cooperated with us," she added.
Protests have been ongoing in Serbia for more than four months, led by students in a blockade, demanding the establishment of criminal and political responsibility for the collapse of the concrete canopy of the Novi Sad Railway Station, which killed 15 people and seriously injured two.
The tragedy in Novi Sad has raised citizens' suspicions of corruption and poor-quality work, which the authorities reject.
The canopy collapsed four months after the grand opening of the reconstructed Railway Station building, following a three-year reconstruction.
The reconstruction was part of the project for the reconstruction and modernization of the Novi Sad - Subotica - Hungarian border railway. The project was developed by the Serbian branch of the China Railway Design Corporation and the CIP Transport Institute from Serbia.
The execution of the works has been entrusted to the Chinese consortium "CRIC&CCCC", which consists of the companies "China Railway International Co. Ltd" and "China Communications Construction Company Ltd".
The contract signed by the Serbian authorities with the Chinese partners for this work is not publicly available.
Several cases are being investigated over the collapse of the canopy. On December 30, the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad filed an indictment against 13 people, on suspicion of negligence in the reconstruction of the canopy.
Among the defendants are former Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesić and his assistant Anita Dimoski, as well as former director of the public company "Infrastruktura Željeznice Srbije" Jelena Tanasković.
The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office (VJT) in Belgrade has filed an indictment for the omissions that led to the collapse of a canopy in Novi Sad on November 1, when 15 people were killed and two seriously injured.
The Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime in Belgrade is conducting a pre-investigation procedure regarding the financing of the Novi Sad Railway Station renovation project.
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