Budget Report: 58.7 Billion Dinars for Rafale Jets

Of the 90 billion dinars planned for 2026 to equip Serbia’s military with Rafale multirole fighter jets, 58.7 billion dinars (about 502 million euros at an exchange rate of roughly 117 dinars) had been spent by June 30, or 65.2 percent of the annual plan. That is the single largest line item in the budget execution report the Serbian government submitted to the National Assembly, published on the parliament’s website.

The report covers the period from January 1 to June 30 and, for the first time this year, breaks spending down by individual project rather than only by summary category. The Rafale jets were purchased from the French company Dassault Aviation, and the budget line is listed under the abbreviation VnBA. Alongside it, 4.4 of the planned 6.96 billion dinars, or 63.3 percent, was spent on weapons and military equipment under the tripartite agreement.

At the opposite end of the list is the project to collect and treat wastewater for Belgrade’s central sewage system. Two billion dinars had been planned for it, and by the end of June not a single dinar had been paid out.

Metro Spending Tops Half the Annual Plan

13.9 billion dinars (about 119 million euros) from the national budget went to construction of the Belgrade metro, 53.6 percent of the planned 26 billion. The breakdown shows what stage the project is at:

• 11.9 billion dinars on machinery and equipment
• 1.23 billion on transfers to the City of Belgrade
• 826.5 million on buildings and construction works

Most of the money, in other words, is currently going toward equipment rather than construction work.

The line from Zemun Polje to the National Stadium has the highest execution rate among transport projects: 10.14 of 17 billion dinars spent, or 59.6 percent. The National Football Stadium itself is running considerably slower, at 5.28 of a planned 21.2 billion, or 24.9 percent. The new bridge over the Sava has 1.54 of 4.8 billion spent, or 31.9 percent.

The gap is wide among the fast roads too. The Novi Sad to Ruma section has used 7.3 billion dinars, nearly half its annual plan, while the Ruma to Sabac to Loznica route has spent one billion of 5.25 billion, or 19.2 percent.

How Much Had Gone to Expo 2027 by June?

The Surcin exhibition is booked in the budget across several separate lines, so the total only becomes visible once they are added together. Combined, about 91.2 billion dinars was planned for the four main Expo positions, and by June 30 about 34.3 billion, or 37.6 percent, had been spent:

• main complex in Surcin: 10.17 of 42.57 billion (23.9 percent)
• zones B and E: 12.84 of 12.9 billion, practically the entire line item
• linear infrastructure and utilities: 8.37 of 28.7 billion (29.1 percent)
• Expo access roads: 2.9 of 7 billion

The plan for linear infrastructure has meanwhile been raised from 18.6 to 28.7 billion dinars, an increase of 54.3 percent over the initial budget. On top of that, 804.97 million dinars was paid out to support staging the exhibition, most of it through subsidies to public companies.

Sixteen Billion Dinars in Line Items With Zero Payouts

Adding up projects where execution stayed at zero and the planned amount is known produces at least 16.9 billion dinars. That includes Belgrade’s central sewage system at two billion, the purchase of five electric multiple units for speeds up to 200 kilometers per hour at 4.35 billion, the tunnel from Karadjordjeva to the Dunavska slope at five billion, and the new Natural History Museum building at 2.89 billion. The same list includes the Svrackovo dam, facilities for the ground forces and the air force, energy efficiency work in central government buildings, and reconstruction of the University Clinical Center in Nis. The aquarium at Usce also saw no spending.

Healthcare facilities sit near the bottom of the execution list. The University Clinical Center of Serbia in Belgrade received 233.7 million of 3.5 billion dinars, or 6.7 percent, and the Clinical Center of Vojvodina received 612.4 million of 2.77 billion. The Hungary to Serbia railway shows 497.7 million of 11.76 billion spent, or 4.2 percent.

Progress is slow at the Defense Ministry too, once the jet program is set aside. 746.8 million of a planned 7.65 billion dinars, or 9.8 percent, went toward the new building for the ministry and the General Staff. The plan for introducing mandatory military service was lowered from 6.36 to four billion, and 1.64 billion of that, or 41 percent of the contracted amount, has been paid out.

Energy spending is closer to the halfway mark. 2.67 of 5.44 billion dinars was spent forming and maintaining mandatory oil reserves, and 3.5 of 6.5 billion went toward consolidating the operations of Resavica.

With exactly half the year gone, the calendar offers a simple yardstick: anything below 50 percent is behind plan. By that measure, only the Rafale jets, the stadium line and zones B and E are ahead of schedule, while capital projects in healthcare, rail and water infrastructure enter the second half of the year with execution rates that would need to multiply several times over in the remaining six months. The next official check comes with the budget execution report for the first nine months.