"The Novi Sad Railway Station Collapse: The Cost of Sino-Serbian Infrastructure Deals" China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe (CHOICE), 6 February 2025

Completed in the summer of 2024, the $1.5 billion project – funded through a loan agreement between the Serbian government, China’s Exim Bank, and the Russian government under the China-CEEC cooperation framework [...]

It is thus not surprising that the collapse sent shockwaves through Serbian society, intensifying scrutiny of government oversight, foreign investment practices, and regulatory failures.

Critics argue that the collapse was not merely an accident but the consequence of a deeply flawed process in which public transparency was sidelined, international agreements were leveraged to bypass national regulations, and political interests were prioritized over safety.

From high-level government-to-government agreements to contracts between Chinese firms and local subcontractors, the controversy has exposed largely opaque processes.

International agreements… revealed that the modernization of two key railway sections was awarded to a Chinese consortium consisting of China Railway International and China Communications Construction Company.

International agreements [...] revealed that the modernization of two key railway sections was awarded to a Chinese consortium consisting of China Railway International and China Communications Construction Company. [...] What remained inaccessible, however, were the commercial contracts between Serbian authorities [...] and the Chinese consortium. One such agreement [...] revealing a critical detail: the selection of Chinese firms for the project was predetermined before the loan agreements were finalized.

Chinese companies played a critical role in the modernization project, yet they have largely escaped the level of scrutiny faced by domestic actors.

Another factor shielding Chinese companies from intense scrutiny was the swift placement of blame on a Serbian subcontractor, Starting, [...]

Yet a crucial question remains: To what extent were the Chinese companies involved in the actual construction?

With reports indicating that between 90 and 130 subcontractors were hired for the project, the full picture of who was truly responsible […] remains murky.