The Go-Change movement held Monday a press conference outside the Serbian Parliament calling for the immediate cancellation of the “mini EXPO theft project” and redirection of those funds to youth housing.

The second sitting of the Serbian Parliament’s second regular session began on Monday, with the 2025 draft budget proposal as one of the items on the agenda.

“Apartments should be allocated to those working in public services such as science, culture, healthcare, and education. They would receive housing if they commit to working in these public sectors for an extended period,” movement leader Savo Manojlovic told the press conference, emphasizing that the apartments should be offered to young people at subsidized rates.

Manojlovic said that Serbia’s 2025 budget amounts to approximately 20 billion euros but emphasized that one of Serbia’s key problems is that, according to reliable estimates, corruption costs the country 12 billion euros annually.

“The promotion of fraudulent projects like mini EXPO receives 2 billion dinars (1 euro – 117 dinars) – the same amount our state allocates for all film and audiovisual creation combined,” he said.

The Go Change leader stressed that one of the main sources of corruption is “inflated construction works used to siphon off money.”

“No one here opposes construction. We absolutely believe the country should be built up. Cities must develop according to plans. We support major infrastructure projects, but currently, there is enormous theft happening. The mini EXPO is a prime example of this grand theft. We still don’t know the total cost of this project. Initial official estimates were 18 billion euros, though this figure was later reduced. In any case, billions of euros will be spent on something that does not solve any of society’s crucial problems,” said Manojlovic.

He noted that over a million people have left Serbia since the current government came to power, stressing that, to ensure that highly skilled population stays in the country, education, schooling, and healthcare are key.

“Looking at this budget, we don’t see investments in people. The large amounts allocated are mainly directed toward construction projects, which again represents enormous corruption,” Manojlovic said.