Jobs in Serbia for the companie from China that reconstructed the station in Novi Sad

It is the Chinese consortium CRIC&CCCC, which consists of the companies China Railway International Co. Ltd and China Communications Construction Company Ltd.

CRIC&CCCC is engaged in the reconstruction and modernization of the sections Belgrade center - Stara Pazova and Novi Sad - Subotica on the Belgrade - Subotica high-speed railway.

As part of that project, a station building in Novi Sad was reconstructed, whose concrete canopy collapsed on November 1, killing 14 people, while three people were seriously injured.

CRIC&CCCC and the Serbian authorities claim that the canopy was not included in the reconstruction of the building.

In addition to the construction of railway infrastructure, the CCCC company is also engaged in the construction of roads, such as sections of the "Miloš Veliki" highway.

 

Belgrade center - Stara Pazova and Novi Sad - Subotica line

The sections Belgrade Center - Stara Pazova of 34.5 kilometers and Novi Sad - Subotica in the north of the country, 108 kilometers long, are part of the Belgrade - Budapest high-speed railway.

The Belgrade - Novi Sad railway, which includes the section to Stara Pazova, was put into traffic in February 2022.

The opening of the Novi Sad - Subotica line was announced for the end of November, and the reconstruction of the station building in Novi Sad was part of that capital project.

 

These shares were financed mainly from loans from the Chinese Exim Bank and were declared to be of exceptional importance for Serbia.

The Belgrade-Budapest high-speed rail project was launched in 2014 in Belgrade, at the summit of sixteen countries of Central and Eastern Europe and China.

It was agreed as a joint project of China, Serbia and Hungary within the Chinese global initiative "Belt and Road", China's strategic goal to connect the Greek port of Piraeus with Central Europe.

Hungary, as a member state of the European Union, encountered a problem regarding non-compliance with competition rules when awarding the right to build a railway in its section.

This country had to call for a tender for the second time and thus comply with European Union regulations.

Corridor 11 - Surčin – Obrenovac

The section of Corridor 11 from Surčin to Obrenovac with a length of 17.6 kilometers, whose contractor was CCCC, was opened in December 2019 after three years of work.

It is the last section of the highway Belgrade - Čačak.

 

According to the website of the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, it was mainly financed by a loan from the Chinese Exim Bank, while allocations from the Serbian budget were 15 percent.

 

New Belgrade - Surcin

This section, eight kilometers long, represents the connection between Belgrade and the highway "Miloš Veliki" that leads to Čačak in central Serbia.

The project carried out by CCCC was declared to be of exceptional importance for Serbia because, as stated, it represents the connection between Belgrade and the "Miloš Veliki" highway.

The basis for this work was the Agreement on economic and technical cooperation in the field of infrastructure between Serbia and China.

Highway "Miloš Veliki", section Preljina - Požega

The Preljina-Požega section in the west of Serbia is part of the E-763 "Miloš Veliki" highway, which connects Serbia with Montenegro and the Adriatic Sea.

This 31-kilometer section is operated by CCCC.

On the website of the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, it is stated that almost a third of the route consists of planned bridges and tunnels.

Part of this section, about 11.5 kilometers long, was opened in January 2022, and the second part should be completed in mid-2025, according to the authorities' announcements.

The deadlines given by the officials have been postponed several times.

CCCC got the job, worth 450 million euros, through a direct contract with the state. In order for Serbia to secure money for the construction of the road, it borrowed money from the Chinese Exim Bank.

In 2021, the Chinese contractor engaged the Slovac quarry as a subcontractor for the provision of crushed stone.

 

Co-owners of the quarry at that time were Zvonko Veselinović and Milan Radoičić, who were sanctioned by the USA a month after that engagement.

During the construction of the Preljina - Požega section, the Chinese contractor damaged the Monument to fallen soldiers in the Second World War in March 2023.

The competent ministries asked the Chinese investor to urgently reconstruct and return the monument of historical importance.

After restoration, the monument was placed in a new location in October of this year.

Also, in the report of the international organization Just Finance, which investigates Chinese investments around the world, it is stated that the E-763 highway construction project had a negative impact on the environment.

In the report from 2022, it is stated that the endangerment of the ecosystem on the Morava River was observed. The CCCC company and the Ministry of Construction did not respond to RSE's inquiry about this report at the time.

 

Northern ring road around Čačak

At the end of May, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Public Enterprise "Roads of Serbia", the City of Čačak and CCCC for the project of the Northern Bypass of the city of Čačak.

The announcement of "Roads of Serbia" stated that the project includes the construction of a bridge over the Western Morava.

 

Railway Pančevo - Subotica

The Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesić announced that CRIC will be involved in the reconstruction of the Pančevo-Subotica railway line.

During his visit to Guangzhou, China in September, it was announced on the Ministry's website that CRIC is one of two Chinese companies that announced participation in new projects in Serbia.

 

Vesić then told the journalists that those two Chinese companies, CRIC and Shandong, have so far performed best in Serbia, expressing satisfaction with the interest in new projects in the country.

Vesić then said that CRIC is working on the reconstruction of the 53-kilometer Sombor-Vrbas railway, as well as the 50-kilometer Novi Sad-Bogojevo-Subotica railway.

CCCC was on the World Bank's blacklist

CCCC, a majority state-owned company, is one of the world's largest companies operating in more than 150 countries.

It deals with the design, construction and management of infrastructure facilities such as highways, bridges, tunnels, overpasses, high-speed railways, metros, oil platforms and ports.

The company was blacklisted by the World Bank for allegedly rigging bids for a highway contract in the Philippines

The CCCC said at the time that the allegations had no basis and that it had complied with all regulations.

The ban on financing by the World Bank lasted for eight years, until 2017.

In August 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the Department of Commerce added several of CCCC's subsidiaries to a list of those with whom business is restricted "due to activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States."

It is about participation in the construction of artificial islands for the Chinese army.

In 2018, Malaysia suspended two railway projects due to suspected corruption.

The company has also been accused of mistreatment of railway workers in Kenya and corruption in Bangladesh.

CCCC President Liu Kitao said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in 2018 that changes in government in countries where the company has projects often lead to accusations of corruption.

 

Liu said that CCCC complies with local laws and environmental regulations in all countries where it operates.

The companies CCCC and CRIC were not available for immediate comment to RSE's inquiry.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

After the tragedy that happened in Novi Sad, when the canopy at the Railway Station fell, killing 14 people and seriously injuring three others, it turned out that the structure was reconstructed by Chinese companies (with Serbian subcontractors). Although the official authorities and the Chinese company CCCC (which was engaged in the reconstruction) claim that the canopy is not included in the reconstruction project, a series of conflicting information appears in the public, while the details of the contract are not available to the public. Unfortunately, this work of Chinese companies ultimately resulted in human casualties, while the public does not receive accurate information about what really happened.

This is another example of the non-transparent business of Chinese companies (and the Serbian public is increasingly talking about corruption). The text also lists other jobs that these two Chinese companies do in Serbia, which are also characterized by non-transparent operations, breaking the deadlines for the implementation of projects, demolishing monuments located on the project route, and the negative impact of the companies on the environment.

Recently, there is often talk about projects implemented by Chinese companies in the sense of low-quality work (the cracking of the Počitelj/Herzegovina bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Pelješko bridge in Croatia...). Because of these writings, but also the tragedy that happened in Serbia, it is high time that the authorities in the countries of the Western Balkans take account of who they assign jobs for the construction of infrastructure facilities. The fact is that in tenders, the bidder who offers the lowest price is most often chosen, and perhaps it is high time that the quality of the performed works and compliance with the rules of the profession are demanded in addition to the lowest price as an equally important condition, because the non-transparent and low-quality work of contractors in Novi Sad is paid for with human lives. .