Yugoslav River Shipping (JRB), Serbia’s only state-owned river transport company, has been put up for sale once more, just 20 days after the suspension of the initial sale process. This new sale announcement values the company at €21.9 million—€7 million less than the previous valuation and nearly equivalent to the value of a recent state contract awarded to JRB for transporting coal from Romania to Serbia’s TPP “Tent B,” which is worth €28.3 million.
According to Pištaljka’s findings, only two companies, “Karin Komerc” and “Hydro-baza Aggregates,” meet the Ministry of Economy’s criteria for purchasing JRB. Both companies have the required 15 cargo thrusters but are not registered for river transport of goods. JRB, by contrast, owns 51 thrusters. Both potential buyers have previously secured lucrative state contracts, raising questions about the transparency of the sale process.
The sale procedure is under the scrutiny of Dejan Damnjanović, the director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and the president of JRB’s Shareholders’ Assembly. Despite his role in overseeing state interests in JRB, Damnjanović has declined to explain the rationale behind the reduced sale price or address concerns regarding the company’s strategic value. He directed inquiries to the Ministry of Economy.
The Ministry has not clarified why the sale price was reduced or provided details on the valuation process. The official explanation for the earlier sale suspension was to correct the price following the identification of land plots on the Sava Embankment in New Belgrade, intended for the “Belgrade Waterfront” project, which JRB had rights to use.
In the past year, JRB has faced multiple challenges, including the loss of a major coal transport tender to a consortium involving Romanian businessman Paul Ivanov and domestic company “Sloga Konstrašen.” After an appeal, the job was reinstated to JRB, but the company was soon advertised for sale again.
The revised sale announcement stipulates that only domestic companies with at least 15 cargo thrusters can bid. The deadline for submitting bids is just 21 days. Neither the prime minister’s office, transport minister Goran Vesić, nor JRB director Mladen Grujić has responded to inquiries about the sale.
