The Belgrade Bus Station (BAS) offered its treasury shares for sale to existing shareholders under the legal right of first refusal, but no shareholders expressed interest. According to a filing published on the Belgrade Stock Exchange, no purchase orders were submitted during the offer period, which ran from 13 October to 12 November. The company offered all 26,869 of its own shares—representing 8.63% of total equity—at a price of 1,515 dinars per share.
BAS is the third-largest shareholder of its own company. The largest shareholder is the Shareholders’ Fund with 30.31%, followed by the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund with 10%. After BAS’s treasury shares, Damjan d.o.o. holds 1.6%, while 1.19% is kept on a custody account at NLB Komercijalna banka. A large number of small shareholders each own less than 1% of the company, totaling 921 shareholders.
All BAS shareholders had the right to purchase a proportional share of the offered stock. Under Serbian corporate law, any treasury shares not purchased through the right of first refusal may later be sold to third parties or cancelled. BAS did not respond to Nova ekonomija’s questions regarding further plans for the sale.
The issue arises as BAS prepares to manage the new intercity bus terminal in Block 42, a project recently awarded to a consortium of companies closely tied to political figures. The winning consortium includes Jadran, owned by Nikola Malbaša—an associate of Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Šapić—and DOT Networks and DOT Smart Solutions, both ultimately owned by Dragoljub Zbiljić.
The tender process lasted roughly a year due to repeated appeals filed by Strabag and Energoprojekt. The national commission responsible for public procurement oversight partially annulled the tender several times, requiring the city to repeat specific procedures. Despite this, the Belgrade Land Development Agency consistently re-awarded the contract to the same consortium. The final appeal by Strabag was rejected on 26 September, and the contract was signed on 13 November.
Nikola Malbaša, owner of Jadran, is a long-time president of the Novi Beograd Water Polo Club and is widely viewed as being close to Mayor Šapić. Dragoljub Zbiljić, owner of DOT Networks, acted as guarantor for a campaign loan taken by the Serbian Progressive Party in 2012. His business empire has expanded significantly since 2013, with companies under his ownership securing a range of state contracts. Most recently, Zbiljić sold a majority stake in Energotehnika Južna Bačka and Elektromontaža Kraljevo to Hungarian state-owned energy company MVM.
