PowerChina, its branches in Serbia, in the last three years have achieved total revenues of around 71.3 billion dinars (610 million euros) and a net profit of approximately two billion dinars (17 million euros).
In recent years, this Chinese company has been awarded key infrastructure projects in Serbia – from EXPO and the metro, to bridges, heating pipes and side roads. Most of the contracts were signed on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement with China, without conducting public procurement, and key documents are not available to the public.
Even though PowerChina is building the infrastructure for one of the most expensive and government-important events in recent history – the EXPO 2027 exhibition, this company, which operates in more than 100 countries around the world, won not just a job in Serbia, but an entire ecosystem of projects.
PowerChina projects in Serbia
Expo 2027 7. National Road IA 1 (Razhanj – Aleksinac)
National Stadium 8. Bypass around Gornji Milanovac
Metro 9. Bypass Ostružnica – Bubanj Potok
New bridge over the Sava River 10. Solar power plant in Saraorci
Tunnel near the Faculty of Economics 11. Vetrozelena wind farm
Bypass around Užice 12. Heating pipeline Obrenovac-Novi Beograd
National Stadium
The reform agenda of the Republic of Serbia shows that National Stadium in Surqin , whose planned capacity is 52,000 seats, is being built by PowerChina under an interstate agreement, which enables direct engagement of contractors.
In 2009, China and Serbia signed an interstate agreement in the field of infrastructure, under which, although not specifically stated in the basic agreement, most projects are implemented without the Public Procurement Act and without competition. It was supplemented in Annex 2 of 2013, when it was stated that agreements, contracts, programs and projects are not subject to the obligation to announce public tenders for the performance of investment works and the provision of goods and services, unless otherwise specified in the commercial contract.
Even 10 years ago, in 2015, the government mentioned the construction of this football stadium. The work officially began on May 1, 2024, but was partially carried out without legal procedures – according to Insider, the construction permit for the first phase, which includes preparatory work and earthworks, was only issued in August 2024.
The project is facing delays. The Fiscal Council states that the construction cost could reach 960 million euros, although First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali claims that the price will not exceed the 464 million euros stipulated in the contract.
According to the president's predictions, the stadium will be ready by May 2027, more precisely by the opening. of EXPO .
Subway by subway
More than 10 years ago, the then mayor of Belgrade, Mali, announced the start of construction of the first Belgrade metro line in 2016.
On the official website of the PowerChina company, they state that the signing of the contract in December last year marked the beginning of the fourth project in which they have been engaged since 2019 within the Belgrade metro.
It is, as they say, one of the most important contracts for major construction works on the metro route, which officially begins the construction of the first line of what they call the largest infrastructure project in Serbia.
According to data from the revised Fiscal Strategy, the two phases of construction of Belgrade Metro Line 1 will cost around 72.8 billion dinars, or 623 million euros.
According to data from the 2026 budget, it is planned to allocate 20.6 billion dinars for the metro project, 77.8 billion in 2027 and another 68.2 billion in 2028.
In November last year, Serbia received a loan of about 153 million euros from Poštanska Štedionica, which we will repay over the next 15 years. According to the budget statement, Serbia plans to borrow another 2.5 billion euros for the first metro line alone.
Nova S says PowerChina is building the first two metro lines under a contract it won without a tender. The subcontractor will be Millennium Team.
New bridge over Sava and Sinisha Mali
On the website of the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia, it is stated that the project to build a new bridge over the Sava River was contracted based on the interstate agreement between Serbia and China, which means that there was no tender – again.
They also state that the estimated value of the demolition of the old bridge and the construction of the new bridge is around 94 million euros, while in the revised Fiscal Strategy this amount is more than 102 million.
During a visit to the works, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali said that the bridge will be completed by the end of 2026.
In 2021, Serbia received a loan of almost 80 million euros from the BNP Paribas banking group, with the obligation to provide 15 percent of the funds from its own budget.
Work on the bridge is being carried out by a consortium that includes Mostogradnja ing, a company owned by the Milenijum team.
Tunnels
In May 2017, the then mayor of Belgrade, Siniša Mali, announced the start of construction of the tunnel that should connect Karađorđeva Street and Despot Stefana Boulevard by the end of 2018, after which the projections for the start of works were postponed year after year.
The contract for the construction of the tunnel at the Faculty of Economics between the Government of Serbia, the Secretariat for Municipal Affairs and Housing of the City of Belgrade and PowerChina was signed at the end of 2023.
According to Insider's discovery, preparatory work had begun even before the permits were obtained, and PowerChina told Insider that they were "forced" to do so.
For the construction of the tunnel, the state received a loan of 24.9 billion dinars (about 213 million euros) from Poštanska Štedionica, with a repayment period of 10 years, and then another 970 million dinars were withdrawn from the budget reserve for this project.
The value of the project increased from around 90-100 million euros to more than 220 million. , according to data from the revised Fiscal Strategy.
Although the main contracts between Serbia and PowerChina are not publicly available due to confidentiality clauses, the company's financial reports reveal that the City of Belgrade paid 7.8 billion dinars in advance in 2024.
At the same time, financial reports state that the interim status for part of the tunnel work has not yet been verified, meaning that the supervisory authority did not confirm the scope and did not actually carry out the works reported by the contractor at that time.
The tunnel, about two kilometers long, is part of a wider project that Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Šapić calls a “small metro,” which includes removing the Old Sava Bridge and building a new one.
In June 2021, the then Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Tomislav Momirović, stated that work on the ring road around Užice would be completed by September 2023 at the latest.
Works officially began in November 2023.
In its 2024 financial report, PowerChina states that the contract for the bypass around Užice was signed on March 11, 2022, and that “the project is still in the project preparation phase” – the project completion rate is 16.2%.
Putevi Srbije published information on its official website on October 30 that work on the ring road around Užice “is proceeding according to plan,” but they did not specify which plan they were referring to.
The project, planned for decades, will cost around 30 million euros.
In the middle of last year, JP Putevi Srbije announced a tender for the review of road safety characteristics for the design and implementation of works in the construction of the ring road, because as they stated, without explaining why, this had not been done in the previous stages.
Although the ring road could not be seen for years, the consequences of the start of its construction are very visible. By the summer of 2024, Užice will be left without a large part of the pedestrian path, and there are fears among local residents that the works will damage the Djetinja River estuary, which is protected as an area of outstanding characteristics.
The improvement of the state road IA 1 (Ražanj – Aleksinac) in the form of increased maintenance of the left lane was completed two weeks ahead of schedule. This time, the contract was signed between Sinohydro Corporation Limited (a member of the PowerChina group) and Roads of Serbia in October 2021, and a section of the road was opened two years later in May.
The ring road around Gornji Milanovac was put into operation in October 2024, as stipulated in the contract signed by PowerChina three years ago. 30.5 million euros from the Serbian budget were invested in the nearly 10-kilometer-long ring road.
Work on the construction of the E70/E75 Belgrade bypass highway began in 1990, but quickly stalled. As is the pattern, Serbian officials have pushed back the completion date year after year.
At the end of 2018, the Chinese signed the contract for sector B of this bypass (Ostružnica – Bubanj Potok – sectors 4, 5 and 6) and the last section was opened to traffic on Vidovdan 2023, one day before the planned end of the contract. However, the notes in PowerChina’s financial statements for 2024 state that the left lane and the tunnel tubes have not yet been completed. The revised Fiscal Strategy estimates the total construction value of these three sectors of the bypass at 382 million euros.
In March 2020, the Electricity Company of Serbia announced on its official website that it had signed a Preliminary Cooperation Agreement with PowerChina for the completion of the construction of the Kolubara B Thermal Power Plant in Kalenić, near Ub.
According to them, the agreement was signed by the director of the Chinese company Yang Bo and the then acting director of EPS Milorad Grcic.
On that occasion, Grcic stated that many projects will be implemented between EPS and Chinese companies. However, this project, worth 385 million euros, did not see the light of day. A year after signing the agreement with the Chinese, information arrives that Serbia is suspending this construction.
Construction of the Kolubara B power plant began in the 80s, but was halted very quickly thereafter.
Renewable energy sources
In April 2023, PowerChina will begin entering the renewable energy sector in Serbia, through partnerships with European companies.
First, its Hubei subsidiary PowerChina began construction of a 9.95 MW solar power plant in Saraorci, for the needs of German company AVR Solar Park, thus opening its first solar project in the country.
According to information from the Ministry of Mines and Energy , The solar power plant will supply approximately 2,500 Serbian households each year.
Three months later, the Chinese began construction of the largest wind farm in Serbia. Investment platform PowerChina Resources signed an agreement with CWP Europe to invest in the Vetrozelena wind farm – a 300 MW wind farm near Pancevo, in which the Chinese became the main owners with a 51% stake.
The construction of the Obrenovac-Novi Beograd heating pipeline, worth around 200 million euros, was followed by a series of delays, contract re-signings and missed deadlines.
The first contract with PowerChina was signed in 2020. For the project, Serbia received a loan of about 165 million euros from the Export-Import Bank of China with the obligation to pay penalties for unused funds.
Although the contractors received an advance, the works did not progress for years. During the signing of the contract annex, at the end of 2023, the mayor of Belgrade said that only then were the conditions for construction met.
Transparency Serbia published an analysis of the response to the request for access to information of public importance regarding the construction of heating pipes, which shows that the contract they received stipulated that at least 49% of the value of the work should belong to local subcontractors, but without any transparent procedure for their selection.
There is no official information that the heating pipe has been put into operation.
PowerChina dominates major infrastructure projects
Financial reports show major changes in the volume of operations and results of companies affiliated with PowerChina in Serbia.
Company 2024/2023/2022
China Power Construction Corporation Limited, Belgrade Branch Total Revenue 25,780,187,000.00 13,699,672,000.00 14,475,520,000.00
Net profit/loss1,208,565,000.00-72,514,000.00154,499,000.00
Powerchina International Group Limited Belgrade Branch Total Revenue 12,164,265,000.00 1,434,211,000.00 591,000.00
Net profit/loss1,528,254,000.00-160,033,000.00-126,271,000.00
China Power Construction Corporation, Belgrade Branch Total revenue 407,260,000.00 60,000.00 95,000.00
Net profit/loss-210,800,000.00-115,962,000.00-126,453,000.00
Sinohydro Corporation Limited Belgrade Branch Total Revenue 6,567,000.00 900,947,000.00 1,150,460,000.00
Net profit/loss-14,667,000.00330,122,000.00-291,977,000.00
PC Europe Builder AD Belgrade Total revenue 400,365,000.00 922,179,000.00 2,664,000.00
Net profit/loss-48,409,000.00-20,364,000.00-42,276,000.00
PowerChina Hubei Engineering Co. Ltd. Belgrade branch Total revenue 204,000.00 60,000.00 0.00
Net profit/loss-785,000.00-47,000.000.00
The largest revenues in 2024 were achieved by branches of Power Construction Corporation of China Limited Beograd and Powerchina International Group Limited Belgrade, where both companies, after several years of losses, achieved a profit of more than one billion dinars. .
Subcontractors
Although PowerChina is officially leading the works, local companies are also carrying out the work on site. Analysis of public records, field information and financial reports shows that a network of local subcontractors is forming around the Chinese company, some of whom have participated or are participating in state projects.
What is common to projects by Chinese companies in Serbia working on infrastructure is the lack of transparency, whether in contracts, deadlines, selection of subcontractors, or all of the above.
Larger projects experience delays and cost overruns, and limited knowledge of how public money is spent makes difficult to monitor and control.
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