Serbian Ex-Minister of Trade and Construction has been arrested as part of an investigation into alleged corruption linked to a railway modernization project, including the renovation of Novi Sad railway station that was a key site of deadly disaster triggered mass protests in the country.

Serbia’s Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime has ordered the arrest of Tomislav Momirović and five other suspects in connection with the reconstruction of a railway station whose roof collapsed last November, killing 16 people and a mass protest movement that has shaken the Serbian government. One more seriously injured person is still in hospital.

The Special Prosecutor’s Office stated that the arrests were the result of efforts by the Task Force investigating financial flows related to the project “Modernization and Reconstruction of the Hungarian-Serbian Railway Line on the Novi Sad–Subotica–State Border (Kelebija) route.”

It also added that former Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Goran Vesic and four more people are under investigation.

Momirovic resigned as Trade Minister on November 20, 2024.  He was Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Minister from 2020 until 2022, during the time when Novi Sad railway station was reconstructed and then reopened in time for the 2022 elections.

The six are suspected of allegedly inflating invoices from a consortium of the two Chinese companies - China Railway International Co and China Communications Construction Co - who were given the task of reconstructing both the railway station at Novi Sad and tracks, the statement said.

They are suspected of damaging the state budget by $115.6 million, the statement said, and also said that by inflating invoices the Chinese consortium benefited by $18.8 million, but gave no further details.

In December 11 people, including Momirovic's successor Goran Vesic, were detained on suspicion of committing a criminal act against public safety.

Months of protests across Serbia following the roof collapse, including university shutdowns, have rattled the rule of President Aleksandar Vucic, a former ultranationalist who converted to the cause of European Union membership in 2008.

The protesters, who blame corruption for the disaster, demand early elections that they hope would remove Vucic and his party from power after 13 years.

They accuse Vucic and his allies of ties to organised crime, violence against rivals and curbing media freedoms. Vucic denies the accusations.

 

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