PPP worth nearly EUR 1.5 billion in Belgrade – Call opened for waiving of bus line routes 300, 400 and 500 to private transporters

Following one of the latest decisions of the until-recently Temporary Organ of Belgrade, the adoption of the proposal of the project of the public-private partnership for entrusting the provision of the service of public transport on bus line routes 300 (Grocka and Zvezdara), 400 (Vozdovac), 500 (Rakovica and Cukarica) and on a part of the lines which pass through Savski Venac, as expected, the public call for this PPP has been opened. According to the estimated value, it will be worth around RSD 146.3 billion without that VAT, that is, over RSD 175 billion with the VAT (EUR 1.25 billion without the VAT and around EUR 1.49 billion with the VAT).

Let us remind that the upcoming PPP for which the procedure has been officially opened by the Secretariat for Public Transport entails the city entrusting the future private partner with a job nearly three times as expensive as the PPP on the bus line routes 100 and 700 for ten years. According to the new PPP, the city plans to take away from GSP Beograd and private transporters, whose contracts with the city are still valid, more than 80 lines and give them to the future private partner.

The recent decision regarding this partnership cites, as the reasons for that move, nearly the same explanations and data as when the same document was being adopted for the routes 100 and 700. It is pointed out that the current age of the single vehicles of GSP is 8.37 years, 17.86 for articulated buses and 11.5 years for minibus vehicles (but, at the same time, the average age of the vehicles of the private transporters who currently operate a substantial part of the lines which will be the subject of this PPP is not cited). The decision also points out that the amortization period has expired for the existing vehicles and that the capacity of these vehicles has been filled out, “which is why they are neither adequate nor safe for passenger transport.”

In the opened public call, the city’s future partner is required to have 391 solo vehicles, 66 articulated vehicles, 40 minibuses and 50 spare vehicles, that is, a total of 497 vehicles and 50 spare vehicles, for the serving of nearly 85 lines. The call also points out that at least 40% of the vehicles (at least 199 of 497) need to be new (buses produced and registered in 2023 or 2024), no more than 20% vehicles (no more than 100 of 497) may have been produced and registered by January 1, 2021, at the latest, no more than 40% vehicles (no more than 198 of 497) may have been produced and registered by January 1, 2017, at the latest. The age of a vehicle, as added, may not be higher than 10 years during the period of the validity of the contract.



As pointed out earlier in the decision for this PPP, at the beginning of the provision of this service, at least 50% of the vehicles have to be new, and within 12 months, the entire rolling stock of the private transporter has to be new. However, it is also pointed out that the city will allow the private partner to get new vehicles within 36 months.

– The buses should feature a system for the counting of passengers, speakers and amplifiers for the PE system, video surveillance in vehicles, a system for the informing of the passengers and wireless internet in the vehicles. If, during the period of the validity of the contract, due to a change in the transportation requests, the number of the deployed vehicles changes, it is also necessary for the number of spare vehicles to increase in line with the new number of the deployed vehicles – it is pointed out in the public call, which adds that, on the day of the beginning of the period of the provision of the contracted service, the private partner must secure at least 1,477 professional D-category drivers.

Bids may be submitted by August 26.

More details (in Serbian) can be found HERE.

D. Aleksic

Sekretarijat za javni prevoz Beograd

JKP GSP Beograd

C & LC group doo Beograd

proposal of the project of the public private partnership for entrusting the provision of the service of public transport on bus line routes 300 400 and 500