Tapes Reveal Belgrade Mayor’s Chief of Staff Offering Rigged Contract

Nenad Milanovic, the chief of staff of Belgrade mayor Aleksandar Sapic, offered representatives of Turkish company Kentkart a new contract for public transport maintenance and improvement of the system for collecting tickets and managing vehicles in the city if they agree to the mutual termination of an existing contract, according to audio recordings obtained by BIRN from two meetings held in March at the City of Belgrade Assembly building.

Kentkart rejected Milanovic's offer.

Kentkart's Serbian partner Sava Terzic told BIRN that it is not clear to him how journalists got the recording of the meetings, but he confirmed that what is heard is authentic, and that Milanovic offered Kentkart a new contract that the Turkish company would 'win' in a rigged tender.

"I confirm your statements about the fact that we were offered to set up a future public procurement on the condition that we sign the offered mutual termination of the contract. This has been offered to us on several occasions," Terzic told BIRN.

"We made an official note about this incident and submitted it to our legal team. That's all I can tell you, because we will carry out all further activities in accordance with the advice of our legal team," he added.

In one of the recordings, chief of staff Milanovic offers to "honour the million euros we promised" to Kentkart if the termination of the existing contract goes ahead.

"I would also take responsibility for providing Kentkart with the continuation of services through the public procurement procedure," Milanovic added.

But he said that Kentkart had rejected the suggestion.

He urged Terzic: "So, please talk to the Turks today, let's try to finish it by the end of the week, let's call for the public...