EXPO 2027 in Belgrade will not cost 18 billion euros: Finance Minister reveals real figure

Photo: Tanjug/AP/SAVA RADOVANOVIC

First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Finance in the caretaker government Sinisa Mali says it is a lie that EXPO 2027 in Belgrade will cost 18 billion euros, but that instead, 323 projects throughout Serbia will cost 17.8 billion, while EXPO alone will cost 1.2 billion.

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According to him, six projects are included in that figure, namely the EXPO space, which will continue as the Belgrade Fair after the exhibition, the accompanying infrastructure, a residential complex with 1,500 apartments, an aquatics center, the Zemun-Airport-EXPO railway and a new wharf on the Sava River.

"The 17.8 billion figure, apart from EXPO, includes, among other things, the Morava Corridor, the Vozd Karadjordje highway, the Fruska Gora Corridor, Preljina-Pozega, Ruma-Sabac-Loznica (highway sections), then local roads, railway infrastructure, namely: Novi Sad-Subotica, Vrbas-Sombor, Nis-Dimitrovgrad, Nis-Brestovac, Sobovica-Luznice," Mali announced on his Facebook account.

He added that the lie that EXPO in Belgrade will cost 18 billion euros should be debunked once and for all, and that this lie is being persistently repeated by representatives of the opposition and the opposition media, "so today, we have a minion of (Dragan) Djilas and the biggest liar Dusan Nikezic comparing EXPO 2025 in Osaka with EXPO 2027 in Belgrade, and how much they cost."

He added that the associated projects in Serbia include those related to water and air traffic, the Kostolac B3 thermal power plant, the Serbia-Hungary oil pipeline, the Kostolac wind farm, the extension of Banatski Dvor (has storage), irrigation systems, wastewater treatment plants, Clean Serbia, the BIO 4 campus, the Innovation District and the expansion of the Data Center in Kragujevac, the Lozionica center, student dormitories, training centers, as well as a total of 18 projects in the field of integral development and tourism, and in total - 323 projects.

Mali stressed that a lot has been done in the past decade, but that now there is a desire to build even more, under the umbrella of EXPO.

"We used this event as an occasion to further modernize Serbia and to invest money in its growth and development. So, Nikezic - stop lying and deceiving the public. If you (previous authorities) had left us something, other than the empty coffers, we would not have our work cut out for us today. Belgrade and Serbia now look completely different than they did in 2012, and the best is yet to come in 2027," Mali stated.

The minister added that Belgrade will be the center of the world during the international exhibition in 2027, just as Osaka will be this year, and that Serbia, as always, will be a good host.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)