Belgrade daily Danas said on Monday that the biggest and most expensive projects in the country have been awarded to foreign companies and are being financed with loans from their respective countries.

 It said that the government has taken some five billion Euro in loans from foreign banks to build roads, railways and other infrastructure without tenders to choose the best company to complete those projects. “That casts a huge shadow on the claim that Serbia is a big construction site because the population will spend years paying off the loans of almost five billion Euro for the 10 biggest projects,” it said and added that the authorities have announced more big projects and know who will do them and which banks will give the loans.  

The daily said that the government took 2.42 billion Euro in loans for highways and major roads of a total length of 330 kilometers.