Belgrade GSP financial crisis and service warnings

The Belgrade City Public Transport Company (GSP Beograd) is experiencing a severe financial crisis characterized by unpaid debts and delayed payments. Initially, employees reported that scheduled salary advances were not disbursed on the 25th of the month. Ivan Banković, president of the Centar trade union, noted that management had not provided explanations for the delay and highlighted that the City of Belgrade has been months late in paying subsidies and funds for completed services.

The situation escalated as the company faced potential service suspensions due to massive debts. The ‘Centar’ union reported that gas supplies for buses were scheduled for suspension on November 4 due to 600 million dinars in debt to ‘Bedem’ and ‘Cryo gas’, while diesel fuel debts reached nearly 900 million dinars. Additionally, Elektroprivrede Srbije issued a final warning regarding the suspension of electricity services, which would impact depots and the trolleybus and tram systems.

With hundreds of millions of dinars also owed to private maintenance companies, the union warned that GSP might be forced to reduce its fleet or face frozen accounts. The union has called on Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Šapić to intervene to prevent a collapse of the transit system.

In response to these pressures, GSP management stated that the company's operations and passenger transport services are not currently at risk. However, the union maintains that the crisis, which affects over 5,000 employees, is a direct result of insufficient city budget funding.