Yugoslav River Shipping was sold to a consortium of private companies for 10.9 million euros—about half its estimated value, according to Pištaljka. Despite the privatization, the company has continued transporting coal, primarily unloading at the temporary Tent B transshipment site in Obrenovac, which is exclusively used by Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) for coal handling.
However, there is no public record on the procurement portal for this transport work. Last year, EPS suspended the tender for coal transport to Tent B after the Republican Commission for the Protection of Competition annulled its award decisions twice due to appeals from competing companies. After awarding the contract to Yugoslav River Shipping (JRB), the Ministry of Economy announced the company’s sale shortly after. The tender decision was again canceled following an appeal by a competing consortium, leading EPS to suspend the procurement process indefinitely.
Pištaljka learned unofficially that coal transport now occurs through a Swiss intermediary company, Telf AG, which holds contracts with EPS and subcontracts the work to JRB. EPS confirmed contracts with Telf AG exist but refused to share them publicly, citing national security and the risk to EPS’s business.
EPS denied holding any documents justifying withholding the contracts or labeling them as trade secrets. The Ministry of Energy and the Government of Serbia have also declined to provide information or clarify who decided to keep these contracts confidential.
Official data shows that since the beginning of the year, 336,672 tons of coal have been transshipped at Tent B, roughly half of what JRB transported annually when state-owned. The Port Management Agency directed inquiries back to relevant institutions without further explanation.
Pištaljka criticized the Ministry of Economy for privatizing the only state shipping company tasked with strategically important roles related to national defense and emergency preparedness, amid numerous contested and opaque procedures.
