The recent collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station, built by a Chinese company, has once again raised important questions about how Serbia cooperates with China on infrastructure projects. The incident, which claimed 16 lives, is not just a technical or engineering issue – it is a symptom of a much deeper and contentious relationship between the two countries.
…
The model of cooperation is almost always the same: Chinese state-owned banks provide “favorable” loans to the Serbian government. These loans finance large infrastructure projects, but the work is carried out exclusively by Chinese companies – without public tenders, without competition, and often without independent control over the cost or quality of the works.
In practice, this means that money from Serbia’s budget ends up in the accounts of Chinese companies, while the debt remains at the expense of the state and its citizens. Some of these projects are even overpaid and have minimal involvement of local businesses or workers.
…
One of the most problematic points of these agreements is the lack of transparency. The terms of Chinese loans are often unknown to the public. There are no public tenders, no independent control over costs and in many cases, there is no accountability for the quality of the works. The collapse of the canopy at the Resnik station [in Novi Sad] is a concrete indicator of this problem.
This approach … risks Serbia losing control over the construction of its strategic infrastructure.