The Chinese worked on the reconstruction under the ‘veil’ of secrecy: Who is responsible for the deaths at the train station in Novi Sad?

Fourteen people died and dozens were injured when an old part of the canopy at the Novi Sad train station collapsed, the latest account of yesterday’s accident. This information was officially confirmed by the Serbian Minister of the Interior, Ivica Dacic, who added that the number of victims was not definitive.

A multi-tonne canopy structure fell on people who were there at the Novo mesto railway station around noon on Friday, injuring many people, and one 20-year-old and one woman were rescued after more than four and a half hours under the rubble.

A six-year-old child was among the victims, Dačić said, noting that the identification of the victims was still ongoing.

Novi Sad Mayor Milan Đurić confirmed more than 30 injured.

Incidentally, there were benches under the canopy and a large number of citizens were on them at the time of the fall.

The authorities claim that the canopy was not reconstructed together with the rest of the building.

In an address to the citizens of Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic said that he would insist that those responsible for the tragedy be found and that the harshest sanctions be imposed.

“Today I will not speak about those who, because of their petty interests, would not think and speak about the tragedy, but are engaged in things that are intolerable on this day. I will not speak of those who would hide under the umbrella of the government. from responsibility”. He asked the authorities to prosecute and severely punish those responsible for what happened.

“I am looking for political and criminal accountability. That is their task. All I know is that we have not rebuilt that canopy for almost 60 years. When we rebuilt everything, we didn’t just rebuild. Why? I don’t know who will give the answers. Is it all our fault that in the last 60 years we have failed to rebuild infrastructure everywhere, and it is the fault of those who designed it For the safety of our people, this means that in the future we will have to repair our infrastructure more often, so that this never happens again,” said Mr Vucic.

And Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, who defended the fact that the shelter was built 60 years ago, said that he would insist that those responsible be found and that “those who had to take care of the state of the building and who had to inform the authorities that some things had to be corrected”. The Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Goran Vesic, also confirmed that the canopy at the Novi Sad railway station, which had collapsed, had not been rehabilitated together with the rest of the building and that it would be established in the coming days who was responsible for this.

“In the coming days we will find out who is responsible for the fact that this part of the station has not been restored and who said it was safe. We will find out the responsibility of each individual,” said Vesic, who toured the accident site.

The site has been given a new steel canopy in the first phase

Although the authorities unanimously announced a few hours after the accident and the tragic death of more than ten people that the shelter had not been rebuilt this July, after the inauguration ceremony, for the second time, information was leaked to the public that the building had received a new steel canopy in the first phase.

According to the construction news portal gradnja.rs, the building received a new steel canopy in the first phase and, after the completion of the second phase, the ceiling surface, made of the same “gilded” square tiles, was reconstructed.

The Novosad railway station was built in 1964 and is the work of architect Imre Farkas and his colleagues from the project studio “Arhitekt”, while the contractor was the construction company “Neimar” from Novi Sad.

No major reconstruction work was carried out on this iconic Novi Sad building from the start-up of the Novi Sad railway station until a few years ago.

While in the first phase the building received a completely new steel canopy, which in its shape follows the original Farkas architecture, after the completion of the second phase the famous “Farkas gold”, a ceiling surface composed of the same “gilded” square, was added, which today adds even more to the warmth of this two-storey space.

Miloš Vučević was mayor at the time of the reconstruction

The current Prime Minister of Serbia, Milos Vucevic, and President of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, was Mayor of Novi Sad at the time of the renovation of the Novi Sad railway station.

Recall that Vucevic served three terms as Mayor of Novi Sad – the first in September 2012, the second in July 2016 and the third in September 2020.

He resigned as Mayor of Novi Sad on 24 October 2022, and on 26 October he became Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Defence. This year he was elected Prime Minister of Serbia.

“This is one of the most difficult days in Novi Sad’s post-war history and a terrible tragedy,” Vucevic commented today on the accident in the city.

Passengers were assured of safety and modernity

At the inauguration of the station in July this year, the President of the Regional Government, Maja Gojković, expressed her satisfaction that the Novi Sad railway station is complete and that “the citizens of Novi Sad and all passengers coming to and from our city will be able to secure their tickets in the most modern, safe and efficient way in this modern part of the railway station”.

Mr Vesić then pointed out that the Novi Sad railway station, which had been reconstructed in two phases, was now fully operational.

“This is a very important project for Novi Sad. This is just one in a series of state-funded projects in our city,” said Novi Sad Mayor Milan Đurić, thanking the line ministry and the provincial government for their support. projects being implemented in the Novi Sad area.

Who worked on the reconstruction of the railway station?

The contractor for the reconstruction of the Novi Sad railway station, part of which collapsed on Friday, killing at least 13 people and injuring several citizens, was the Chinese consortium CRIC&CCCC (“China Railway International Co. Ltd” and “China Communications Construction Company”. Ltd”).

This consortium of China Railway International Company (CRIC) and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) was the general engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Belgrade – Stara Pazova railway section, responsible for the design and construction of the Belgrade – Stara Pazova railway line.

As the consortium itself announced in Večernji novosti at the beginning of 2023, the Chinese contractor is also responsible for the construction of the Novi Sad – Subotica – state border railway line. The Belgrade railway station reconstruction project was carried out by CIP Transportation Institute.

Two hours after the accident, the company “Infrastructure of the Railways of Serbia” announced that the canopy that had fallen was not subject to reconstruction, but that the work included “the interior of the station, the roof and the façade above and below the canopy”.

The reconstruction of Novi Sad railway station was carried out in two phases.

According to the communication from the company Railway Infrastructure of Serbia, in neither phase was the canopy, which had fallen on the citizens, reconstructed, but work was carried out on the roof, and the façade above and below the canopy.

“The canopy that fell at the entrance to Novi Sad station was not subject to reconstruction as part of the reconstruction of the station building within the framework of the project for the construction of the Novi Sad-Subotica high-speed line. The interior of the station, the roof and the façade above and below the canopy were treated as part of the reconstruction,” the Serbian Railway Infrastructure reported.

As a reminder, the reconstruction of Novi Sad Railway Station started in October 2021, so the station was officially opened for the first time in the middle of the election campaign in March 2022.

It was soon closed again due to the works.

The reconstructed station building was officially opened on 5 July this year in Novi Sad – for the second time.

The station’s renovation was a secret, the Chinese wanted to

Given that the reconstruction of the station started in October 2021 and that the station was officially opened in the middle of the election campaign in March 2022 and closed again due to the works, Portal021 asked the Ministry of Transport and the JP “Infrastructure Railways of Serbia” to provide them with contracts and invoices related to this work.

Instead of documentation, they received a reply from the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure stating that they had “contacted the Chinese contractor”, who informed them that he “does not agree to any information from and related to the contract being passed on to third parties before the project is completed, i.e. before the receipt of the certificate of good work”.

The Ministry also sent a letter to 021.rs from the contractor, the Chinese consortium CRIC&CCCC (“China Railway International Co.Ltd” and “China Communications Construction Company Ltd”).

The letter, signed by Mr Ji Fengzhan, a representative of the consortium, states that they do not agree to the data being passed on to a third party, namely a journalist from the 021.rs portal.

This is unusual, as the Ministry has not provided a legal basis for withholding documents from the public.

According to the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, an authority may withhold information if it would endanger the life or health of a person, jeopardise or hinder the detection and prosecution of a criminal offence, jeopardise the defence of the state, impair the state’s ability to manage economic processes, jeopardise the implementation of monetary, foreign exchange or fiscal policy, violate intellectual or industrial property rights or endanger the environment.

The second reason is the publication of information or a document designated as classified information by a regulation or an official act under the law. However, the Ministry did not state in its reply that these documents are classified.

Opened in pomp – closed in silence

After being pompously opened in 2022 in the middle of the election campaign with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the same section, which was presented to the public as a great success for the Serbian Progressive Party and, above all, for Aleksandar Vucic, was closed again a year later.

Since then, as seen on the spot, the renovation of the already renovated part has been under way. The regime’s media announced this as a “new phase of works” and reported that the works in the hall were “partially completed last year” due to the opening of the high-speed railway and that major works were on the horizon.

Since April last year, the concourse has been closed, with passengers entering the station building at the underpass and going from there to the platform.

Veselin Simović, assistant project manager for the construction of the high-speed railway from Novi Sad to Subotica, said at the end of March last year that the new works include the replacement of the ceiling, façade joinery, lighting, marble panels. and the construction of a gallery.

At the time, he estimated that the works would take four months. Almost 10 months have passed since then.

China, Vucic, Orban

The first passengers on the “Soko” train were Aleksandar Vučić and Viktor Orban.

“I cannot tell you how proud I am. After 60 years, we have rebuilt this station,” said Mr Vucic at the train’s “welcome ceremony”.

Even then, 021.rs cameras recorded that the renovation work was not yet complete and a large canvas covered the part of the station where the work was underway.

The partial rehabilitation of the station was carried out by a consortium of Chinese companies, China Railway International and China Communications Construction Company, which are also involved in the construction of the high-speed railway.

This work, together with the construction of the Novi Sad-Belgrade section, cost USD 935 million, according to information the authorities are prepared to make public.

Who builds and maintains railways in Serbia?

Chinese companies dominate the construction of railways and subways in Serbia, and the top five companies with the highest operating income in 2022 include four from China.

Among the top ten in terms of total revenue are three domestically-owned companies – ZGOP and Pilastro from Novi Sad, and Belgrade-based WEG Kolektor, biznis.rs also reported.

According to CompanyWall, a total of 36 companies are registered in Serbia for the construction of railways and subways.

China Railway International Corporation recorded the highest operating income in Serbia in 2022.

The second largest company according to CompanyWall is the Belgrade-based subsidiary of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Balkan, also known by its acronym CCECC.

Third place among the “newcomers” is held by Russia’s RZD International, which recently completed the modernisation of the Subotica-Horgos railway in a consortium with Karin Komerc MD of Veternik./The Geopost/