Alliance for Serbia: Vinca Waste-to-Energy Plant Contract Is Biggest Theft in Serbia’s History

Dragan Djilas Nikola Jovanovic (Beta/Milos Miskov)

The Alliance for Serbia leaders, Dragan Djilas and Nikola Jovanovic, on Oct. 29 said that a contract on building a waste-to-energy plant in Vinca, near Belgrade, was one of the biggest thefts in Serbia’s history, which would costs the citizens EUR1.1 billion.

“According to the contract with French company SUEZ from 2017, the City of Belgrade will be paying the firm EUR38.3 million annually over the next 30 years, which calculates to a total amount of EUR1.1 billion, which the City of Belgrade is obliged to pay over the next 30 years,” Djilas told a news conference.

He recalled that a project proposed by the previous city government was worth EUR179 million.

“Under the project of the incumbent city government, all electricity to be generated in the future waste-to-energy plant will be SUEZ’s, while under our project, it would have belonged to the City of Belgrade,” Djilas said, adding that the Alliance for Serbia had informed the French Embassy in Belgrade and would also submit an official letter.

People’s Party deputy leader Nikola Jovanovic said that the City of Belgrade would also pay taxes, which were otherwise dues of the contractor, including the transfer tax, the landfill tax and the property tax.