It appears that there have been recent developments regarding public transportation in Belgrade, where it is reported that several private companies linked to Zvonko Veselinović are preparing to take over the operation of public transportation. Known as a businessman from Kosovo closely associated with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Veselinović was placed on the “blacklist” of sanctioned individuals in 2021 by the United States and the United Kingdom, marking him as a leader of a criminal organization involved in smuggling goods, money, drugs, and weapons between Kosovo and Serbia.
The companies Bg Bus Prevoz, C&LC Group, and 17 other private transporters have signed an agreement to form a new consortium to participate in the City of Belgrade’s tender for passenger transportation in Zvezdara, Vozdovac, Cukarica, and Savski Venac. BIRN had access to the establishment agreement. If an agreement is made with the new consortium, C&LC Group will become a private transporter with nearly all of the buses on the streets of the Serbian capital.
C&LC Group became widely known after several incidents involving its vehicles on the streets of Belgrade. The company’s vehicles have caught fire several times, and the media highlighted an incident where the doors of a bus filled with passengers fell off during driving. Due to unsafe conditions for transport on line 511, residents of Sremcica protested in February and March of this year.
To participate in the current tender, individuals close to the city government system requested that Belgrade transporters pay a cash compensation ranging from 15,000 to 30,000 euros per bus, depending on the size of the vehicle participating in city transport, some private transporters told BIRN, insisting on remaining anonymous due to what they described as safety concerns.
In Belgrade, apart from GSP, several private consortiums have previously participated in public transportation. The largest of these was led by the German company Mobilitas, whose contract with the City expires in September, and the remaining lines operated by private individuals were covered by the smaller consortium Avala Bus 500, led by C&LC Group.
The City of Belgrade terminated its contract with Avala Bus 500 in early July, three and a half years before the contract’s expiration and just before the tender for private transporters on the lines that Mobilitas had previously operated. Suddenly, both consortia’s lines were included in the tender.
Most of the transporters that were part of the Mobilitas consortium have now moved to the Bg Bus Prevoz consortium.
The companies C&LC Group and Bg Bus Prevoz, their managers, and subsidiary companies have been business partners of Zvonko Veselinović, a businessman from Kosovo closely associated with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
Veselinović was placed on the “blacklist” of sanctioned individuals in 2021 by the United States and the United Kingdom, marking him as a leader of a criminal organization “involved in a large-scale bribery scheme of Kosovo and Serbia security officials” and smuggling goods, money, drugs, and weapons between Kosovo and Serbia.
Milorad Lovrić, manager of C&LC Group, says the claims of requiring cash compensation to participate in the tender are “village stories” and that no one has asked for anything, noting that he had collaborated with Veselinović ten years ago.
“I know the gentleman, we participated together in 2014, 2015 in some projects, and that’s it. He has his account and his house, I have my account and my house, i.e., the company where I work,” says Milorad Lovrić from C&LC.
However, BIRN’s research indicates that Lovrić’s relationships are much closer and continue to this day.
Owners of Key Companies in the New Consortium and Their Links with Zvonko Veselinović
The official leader of the new consortium is the company Bg Bus Prevoz. This company, founded only a month before the tender for a new public transport partner, is owned by 20-year-old Predrag Lovrić, who is otherwise the son of Milorad Lovrić, manager at C&LC Group.
Predrag Lovrić and Zvonko Veselinović, through their companies, are co-owners of Metalotehna AD.
Predrag Lovrić holds shares in Metalotehna through the company Meteor 017 from Vranje, and Veselinović through Betonjerka Aleksinac, which is owned by his Inkop. Both of these Veselinović companies are on the American sanctions list.
The director of Betonjerka owned by Veselinović, Vladan Milanović, is also, with Predrag Lovrić, a co-owner of Meteor 017, where he also holds the position of director.
The unofficial leaders of the new consortium are actually C&LC Group and Milorad Lovrić. Besides the fact that C&LC Group will have the largest number of buses, the transporters with whom BIRN spoke named Lovrić as one of the new leaders.
C&LC Group Founded in 2009, Initially Focused on Road and Highway Construction, Now Engaged in Transport
C&LC Group was founded in 2009 as a company engaged in road and highway construction, so transportation was not its primary activity.
Since then, it has had shares in at least three of Zvonko Veselinović’s business ventures. As previously reported by CINS, C&LC Group, in a consortium with the companies Nukleus and Inkop, now owned by Zvonko Veselinović, won the contract for constructing the highway from Lajkovac to Ljig in 2014.
Five years later, Veselinović purchased Betonjerka from Aleksinac for 410,000 euros, even though the initial price was two million, because Betonjerka from Sombor, a subsidiary of C&LC, agreed to such a low price as one of the largest creditors.
A few months later, Betonjerka from Aleksinac, now owned by Veselinović’s Inkop, and Betonjerka from Sombor, in a consortium with several other companies, won a contract from EPS for supplying concrete columns, being the sole participant in the tender, reported Insajderi.
The deadline for applications in the City of Belgrade’s public tender for a private partner in public transportation is August 26, 2024. The main requirement for participation in this tender is that the transporter must have 497 buses available, of which at least 199 must be completely new.
The new consortium, Bg Bus Prevoz, plans to apply for this tender, having the required number of solo buses, articulated buses, and minibuses by August 21. However, Milorad Lovrić, a representative of this consortium, stated that they are still unsure if they will meet the city’s requirement that 40% of the vehicles be new by the deadline.
The guidelines for forming the consortium stipulate that C&LC Group will have the majority of the buses. So far, this company has had 31 buses on the streets of Belgrade. If the Bg Bus Prevoz consortium and the city reach an agreement after the tender, C&LC Group will have 70 solo buses, articulated buses, and minibuses on the designated routes, making up the majority of the fleet of 497 vehicles.
Due to the termination of the contract with Avala Bus 500 before the deadline, the City of Belgrade has given C&LC Group not only the opportunity to participate in the new tender for additional lines but also to operate at a much more favorable price, being paid 270 dinars per kilometer traveled, instead of 170 dinars as in the previous contract.
The story about the “cash compensation” allegedly requested from private transporters to continue their operations in the public-private partnership for public transportation in Belgrade has recently sparked much discussion. This claim has spread publicly and in the media, including allegations that certain amounts of money were requested from transporters for different types of buses.
Zoran Stefanović, a bus driver and chairman of the “Pravda – GSP Beograd” union, publicly spoke about these requests at a press conference and was later dismissed from his job. In early July, Stefanović publicly asked Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Šapić if it was true that his associates were demanding 30,000, 25,000, and 20,000 euros from private transporters for different types of buses.
After his dismissal, Stefanović filed a lawsuit against GSP, and several other unions within GSP supported him. However, so far, no one has officially denied the information about the cash compensation.
Ivan Banković, chairman of the “Centar GSP Beograd” union, declared at a press conference on July 29 that they would not remain silent in the face of corruption. According to some sources, who are private transporters, there have been requests from various transporters to pay cash compensation to participate in the public-private partnership for public transportation starting this fall.
BIRN journalists attempted to question all private transporters involved in passenger transport in Belgrade about these allegations. Some of them, who requested to remain anonymous, confirmed that it was necessary to pay cash to receive public transport lines, while others denied this, calling the rumors “absurd,” but also requested to remain anonymous.
Some transporters did not respond to calls or questions sent, and some refused to discuss the topic of public transportation and the current tender.
The companies and individuals involved have officially denied any involvement in these allegations, calling them false. However, so far, there has been no clear response from the authorities or from Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Šapić.
