Under conditions of periodic major global crises, such as the current financial and energy crisis shaking the world due to the war in Ukraine, public finances at all levels of government in most countries are under severe pressure. Specifically, real costs rise, the number of citizens facing economic hardship who require budget assistance grows, and borrowing costs increase through higher interest rates and stricter conditions from international creditors.
In such circumstances, the task of a responsible government is to find ways to mitigate the negative consequences of the crisis for its citizens.
Through its decisions in the final months of 2022, the current government in the City of Belgrade signaled that austerity measures would rely on abandoning local projects and policies that make citizens’ daily lives easier. Several examples stand out:
- Subsidized Heating Removed: A City Assembly decision in October prevented the most vulnerable social groups from paying for heating at subsidized rates over the next 12 months, as originally planned.
- Heating Season Delayed: The start of the heating season in Belgrade was postponed by 15 days.
- Price Increase: Heating prices were set to increase by 5% starting in February.
- Infrastructure Abandoned: The sewage system construction project in Borča was dropped.
- Educational Tech Canceled: The distribution of tablet devices for primary school students was abolished.
- River Transport Canceled: The planned introduction of river transit—which would have significantly relieved traffic congestion—was abandoned.
- Other Projects Ignored: Several previously announced utility and infrastructure projects were neglected.
In this manner, the burden of the crisis is shifted onto ordinary citizens—who already face difficult conditions in Serbia—and particularly onto the poorest, who need assistance most. Such austerity measures inevitably cause a dramatic decline in the quality of life, with disastrous long-term social, health, infrastructure, and other effects.
Instead of these budget cuts, the most effective way to save public funds is to reduce corruption, with the full opening of public finances serving as a primary mechanism to drive this change.
We propose a comprehensive reform of the City of Belgrade’s finances by making all revenue and expenditure information publicly accessible and enabling residents to directly influence how local budget funds are spent. The policy of complete openness of public finances is the most effective mechanism for preventing corruption and saving public resources in a fair manner.
Implementing this policy in the City of Belgrade entails the following set of measures:
1) Opening the Local Budget
- Public Budget Files: Make the Belgrade city budget—alongside the budgets of 13 municipal utility companies, 10 other public enterprises, and all city institutions—available on their official websites in an open, widely accessible format (preferably Excel).
- Real-Time Execution Reports: Update real-time budget execution reports (Excel) accessible from the city’s main homepage. Reports must detail expenditures line by line, listing all entities receiving budget funds along with exact amounts and legal bases (for individuals, excluding public officials, positions and contract types are published instead of names).
- Detailed Explanations: Publish detailed justifications for the budget and every rebalance on the websites of the city, public enterprises, and institutions.
- Citizens’ Budget Guide: Produce a clear, user-friendly Citizens’ Guide to the Budget shortly after adoption and publish it online.
- Timely Final Accounts: The annual final financial statement must be reviewed and adopted by the Belgrade City Assembly within the legal deadline and made fully accessible online in an open format, following the same standard as the budget.
2) Transparency of Public Procurement and Calls
- Dedicated Procurement Pages: Maintain a regularly updated, dedicated public procurement page on the websites of the city and all public enterprises and institutions.
- Annual Plans and Archive: Include the annual procurement plan (with all amendments) and a structured section for every tender, organized from active to past procurements.
- Complete Documentation: Every tender section must contain the tender dossier, bid opening minutes, contract award decision, and the final contract with all potential annexes. Every contract must be published, including low-value procurements.
- Leasing and Property Records: Regularly publish public calls and lease contracts for city-owned property following the procurement format. Maintain and update a complete register of city property available for lease, including estimated values, lessee details, pricing, and lease terms.
- Grants for NGOs and Media: Regularly publish open calls and award contracts for non-governmental organizations and media outlets. Detailed project execution reports must be published in the same location.
- Non-Discriminatory Procedures: Ensure a clear justification exists for every expenditure. Tender specifications must be open, transparent, non-discriminatory, and not tailored for a predetermined bidder or altered mid-process except under extraordinary, unforeseen circumstances.
- Live Construction Monitoring: For construction and infrastructure projects, consider offering real-time progress tracking online (regular site photos, status reports, and live streaming cameras).
3) Public Access to Data on Officials and Employees
- Separation of Roles: Maintain a strict distinction between political roles (City Council members, Assembly Speaker, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and councilors) and professional roles (Head of City Administration and directors of public enterprises/institutions).
- Public Competitions: Fill all professional positions exclusively through public competitions based on expertise, experience, and integrity. Competitions should include public interviews open to citizens, opposition representatives, and civil society. Detailed CVs and work plans for all candidates must be published.
- End Acting Directorships: Immediately halt the widespread practice of appointing “acting” directors to bypass formal qualification requirements and extending their terms indefinitely.
- Councilor Registry: Publish a complete list of Belgrade City Assembly councilors alongside their electoral list affiliations.
- Assembly Session Data: Publish invitations, agendas, and session materials in an open, searchable online format at least 7 days before each meeting.
- Live Streams and Transcripts: Broadcast City Assembly sessions live on local television and online. Publish transcripts, adopted decisions, and roll-call voting records showing how individual councilors voted.
- Executive Decisions: Publish all decisions made by the City Council and the Mayor online.
- Organizational Transparency: Publish inner organizational charts, job classifications, employee counts, and salary levels for every position. Clearly highlight the number of individuals engaged via non-employment contracts (temporary/occasional work contracts and service agreements) and their monthly budget allocations, updated monthly.
- Performance Tracking: Pair job classification data with continuous, measurable performance evaluations and publish results publicly.
- Asset Declarations: Require public officials to file regular asset reports.
4) Accessible Citizen Oversight of Local Administration
- FOI Compliance: Respond to all requests for free access to information of public importance within legal deadlines and procedures.
- FOI Guides: Place a clear guide for submitting information requests in a prominent position on the city website.
- Service Center Support: Establish a city administration service center providing citizens with guidance on oversight mechanisms and methods for reporting corruption or abuses.
- Anonymous Reporting: Enable secure, anonymous reporting of corruption via telephone or online portals.
- Real-Time Case Tracking: Provide an online tracking system where citizens can follow the status of their requests, appeals, complaints, and petitions in real time.
- Satisfaction Surveys: Conduct semi-annual public satisfaction surveys regarding city administration services and publish the results.
- Open Door Hours: Establish fixed, regular “open door” hours for the Mayor and Council members to meet directly with citizens to discuss issues, requests, and reports of financial abuse.
5) Direct Citizen Participation in Budget Allocation
- Pre-Budget Public Discussions: Organize public discussions prior to adopting the annual city budget, reaching every resident via social media, local TV, newsletters, mailers, and door-to-door outreach.
- Participatory Budgeting: Allow citizens to vote directly on how project-based budget funds are allocated through participatory budgeting.
- Local Community Decision-Making: Lower the selection process for competing projects to the local community (mesna zajednica) level, where residents best understand neighborhood priorities.
- Deliberative Democracy: Maximize deliberative tools, such as citizens’ assemblies and participatory forums.
- Referendums for Major Projects: Hold local referendums for major municipal investment and infrastructure projects (public transit, major squares, key thoroughfares, bridges, heating systems, and waste management).
A brief review shows that the City of Belgrade has implemented very few of these measures, while execution on the most critical ones has not even begun. Subsequent analyses—including a review of the 2023 draft budget—will break down specific gaps alongside an execution roadmap and successful benchmark examples.
According to the latest Local Self-Government Transparency Index published by Transparency Serbia, Belgrade ranks 25th among all cities and municipalities in Serbia regarding financial openness.
On the global Corruption Perceptions Index published annually by Transparency International, Serbia ranks 96th for the second consecutive year—its lowest score since the current methodology was adopted. Serbia shares this rank with Argentina, Indonesia, Lesotho, and Turkey. In the region, only Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania rank lower.
Furthermore, an analysis by the Fiscal Council based on World Bank data shows that Serbia’s GDP growth would be 0.5% higher each year if corruption were reduced to the levels of EU member states like Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Croatia—and over 1% higher if brought down to the EU average. These figures reflect only the direct impact, whereas the indirect loss—primarily from suppressed investment due to corruption and an opaque business environment—is significantly larger.