HOW MUCH DOES WATER SUPPLY RECONSTRUCTION IN SERBIA REALLY COST? Vučić claims €5 billion, a state commission report says – €800 million!

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated on Blic TV that €5 billion is needed for the reconstruction of the water supply network in Serbia, emphasizing that this amount does not refer to Užice, but to the entire country. The same estimate had previously been presented at a Government session by the Minister of Public Investments, Darko Glišić.

However, as investigated by Serbian Times, official documents from state institutions indicate a significantly lower cost for these works.

By analyzing available documentation, the Serbian Times portal found a 2019 report by the State Audit Institution (DRI) titled “Efficiency of Water Supply Infrastructure Management,” which states that water losses in the network can be reduced through investments in the revitalization and construction of the water supply network, for which, according to state estimates, investments of over €800 million are required.

This means that the estimate currently presented by Vučić and Glišić differs from the DRI estimate by as much as €4.2 billion.

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What is the difference in percentage terms?

If the amount of €800 million is taken as the base, the figure of €5 billion represents an increase of as much as 525%, or more than six times higher than the amount stated in the official audit report.

What else does the DRI state?

In the same report, the DRI states that during 2018 in Serbia, 230 million cubic meters of drinking water were lost in the distribution network, meaning that more than 35% of produced water was not delivered to consumers. On average, public water utilities in Serbia lose more than one third of water annually, while in as many as 20% of water supply systems, losses exceed 50% of the total produced quantity.

Auditors estimate that on this basis, more than 10 billion dinars in revenue of public water utility companies is lost every year.

Even if inflation from 2019 to today were taken into account, it cannot explain the jump in the estimate from €800 million to €5 billion, as that would imply a cost increase of over 500%.

Therefore, the question remains open as to which new analyses, studies, or projects the President of Serbia and the competent ministers are now relying on when citing the figure of €5 billion, given that the latest available report of the State Audit Institution speaks of a multiple times smaller amount of required investments. You can read the full report HERE.