Belgrade holding instead of group of inefficient utility companies, CLS proposes

Apart from new borrowing from private banks, accounting smoothing of losses of public utility companies and higher property taxes, today’s rebalance in Belgrade does not offer any new solutions, but rather locks the city into a loss-making model, said Nikola Jovanovic, director of the Center for Local Self-Government.

Jovanovic believes that a Belgrade holding should be formed, a single company that would perform all utility activities, improve coordination of various services and save on costs and employees, but as he adds, instead we see that meaningless projects are being approved for existing utility companies that only serve to further extract money and employ party personnel.

– A new plan for the general regulation of green areas in Belgrade must be adopted, which would stand at the top of the urban hierarchy and which would prescribe twice as many green areas and forests in the city, instead of each investor doing whatever they want in direct agreement with the city authorities today – said Jovanovic at Nova S on the occasion of the defense of the Bajdina Forest.

– This system has pushed honest subcontractors and cooperators in the city into crisis this year, and next year citizens will feel that money has been spent in vain and irresponsibly. That is why it is necessary to reform the city administration, adopt a development plan and a general urban plan, as well as eradicate corruption and partocracy in Belgrade – said Jovanovic.

Some European cities already have this form of organization of communal services, including one of the most organized, and so the Vienna Holding has existed for half a century; in the neighborhood, its counterpart is the Zagreb Holding.

Centar za lokalnu samoupravu Beograd

Center for Local Self Government

Nikola Jovanović

Belgrade City budget

Belgrade holding

operations of utility companies in Belgrade