The draft Budget Law for 2026 foresees that Serbia will take a €1.5 billion loan from France for the construction of the reversible hydroelectric plant (RHPP) “Bistrica”, with the same amount allocated for the construction of RHPP “Đerdap 3”, although this second loan would come from foreign investment corporations, funds, and banks.
According to SRCE, this implies that the cost of Bistrica and Đerdap 3 is identical, even though the planned installed capacity of the first is 628 MW, while the second is 1,800 MW—three times larger for the same price.
The Energy Committee points out that according to the adopted Serbia Energy Development Strategy in 2024, the construction of Bistrica was estimated at €1.1 billion, and Đerdap 3 at €1.9 billion. These figures were already criticized by experts during public discussions as being unrealistic.
In the 2025 budget, Bistrica was planned at €1 billion, and Đerdap 3 at €1.4 billion, while in the meantime, no work has been carried out on either project. Yet in the 2026 budget, funding for Bistrica was increased by 50%, while Đerdap 3 was raised to €1.5 billion.
SRCE sharply criticized the government, stating: “Only SNS magicians could realistically justify this, and Siniša Mali, as the main author of the budget, is the greatest among them! The investment amounts listed in this budget proposal have no relation to reality.”
According to the committee, the current government sees the Bistrica project on the horizon, where they believe they might remain in power, while Đerdap 3 is clearly beyond that horizon. Their main goal, as SRCE claims, is to secure the largest possible stake in the first project, while disregarding realistic planning for the second. The committee concludes: “This is an accounting plan with no basis in reality.”
