Serbia's Budget Report Details Infrastructure Spending, Energy Concerns

The Serbian government has presented Parliament with a budget execution report for the first half of 2026, revealing significant public spending on infrastructure projects. Notably, the Belgrade metro project received 13.9 billion dinars, and the construction of a new bridge over the Sava River was allocated 1.5 billion dinars during this period. In contrast, the central sewage system project in Belgrade saw no expenditure in the first six months of the year, despite an initial plan for 2 billion dinars.

According to data from the Ministry of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure, the Sava bridge project has utilized 31.9% of its 2026 budget, with a total planned investment of 4.8 billion dinars. For the Belgrade metro, 53.6% of the year's budget (26 billion dinars) has been spent, with 1.23 billion dinars transferred to the City of Belgrade for the project. The largest portion of the metro spending, 11.9 billion dinars, went towards machinery and equipment.

The report also details expenditures on railway development. No funds were spent on the planned acquisition of five new high-speed electric trains capable of 200 km/h, for which 4.35 billion dinars were earmarked in 2026. The Hungarian-Serbian railway project has seen 497.7 million dinars spent, representing 4.2% of the year's planned 11.76 billion dinars. Additionally, 315 million dinars have been spent on salvaging sunken German World War II fleet vessels, out of a planned 699 million dinars.

Expenditure on road infrastructure includes 1 billion dinars for the Ruma-Šabac-Loznica expressway, which is 19.2% of the planned amount for the year. The Novi Sad-Ruma expressway has already utilized 7.3 billion dinars, nearly half of its 2026 allocation. Meanwhile, a recent emergency session of the Republic's Headquarters for Emergency Situations was convened due to concerns over low water levels and their potential impact on electricity production, raising questions about the stability of the energy supply.