GSP Belgrade Pay Advance Late, Director Blames OTP Bank
GSP Belgrade employees did not receive the pay advance due on October 25. Director Zoran Sarac cites a technical problem at OTP Bank, and councillor Stefan Simic demands his resignation.
Employees of the city transport company GSP Belgrade did not receive on time the pay advance due on October 25. The money had not arrived by Monday, October 26 either. According to a statement from the Independent Trade Union of GSP Belgrade, director Zoran Sarac blamed technical problems at OTP Bank and announced a payment for Tuesday, October 27.
The due date, October 25, 2026, fell on a Sunday. Under the practice cited by the Centar union, the payment is then made on the next working day, which means Monday at the latest. The Independent Trade Union says the advance falls due between the 25th and the 30th of the month, and the final pay for the previous month between the 10th and the 15th.
What does the Centar union claim?
The Centar union’s statement was published on Monday evening and is signed by the union’s president, Ivan Bankovic. He says many members and other employees contacted the union worried about a payment that has not arrived. The union says this is the first time the advance at GSP has been late. A former employee of the company told the daily Danas that advances had “never been late until now, and even non-working days were taken into account, and payments were made earlier”.
Bankovic said in the statement that nobody had addressed the employees:
“In this regard, the management of GSP Belgrade has not addressed the employees or explained the reasons for such a delay, nor has it said when the payment will be made.”
Bankovic adds that many workers are repaying bank loans and support their families from their pay. He called on the acting director of GSP and the responsible officials in the City of Belgrade not to stay silent and to address the workers publicly. He also warned of the consequences for transport, alongside a claim about the city’s debts:
“Otherwise, this may cause additional dissatisfaction among workers, which may affect the regularity and reliability of public city transport in Belgrade, and it is a fact that the City of Belgrade has been late for several months with payments of current subsidies and funds for the transport provided to GSP, which makes it ever harder to obtain spare parts and vehicle maintenance materials.”
In the texts we read, there is no response from the City of Belgrade to the claim about late subsidies.
What did the director tell the other union?
On Tuesday the Independent Trade Union of GSP Belgrade published a statement, along with an Instagram post, relaying a conversation with director Sarac:
“Director Sarac told us that pay was not made yesterday because of technical problems at OTP Bank. He informed us that the pay will be made today, October 27, 2026.”
The two statements do not rule each other out. The Centar union says management did not address employees, while the Independent Trade Union says the director gave it the reason. Danas reports that at the time of writing it had received no comment from GSP Belgrade.
What is Stefan Simic demanding?
Stefan Simic, a city councillor of the Movement of Free Citizens and president of the party’s Belgrade board, demanded in a written statement an urgent payment and the director’s resignation. According to him, such a situation has not happened before, which raises the question of the financial state of city companies. Simic speaks of wages in his statement, while the news concerns the advance.
“Workers of the city transport company must not be hostages to the incompetence of the city authorities.”
He also said: “We demand that wages be paid without delay.” He addressed a demand to the director: “Sarac must resign immediately.” He closed the statement with a political demand:
“Belgrade needs a new city government, not new excuses for old problems. We demand the urgent payment of wages and the calling of Belgrade elections, so that citizens can finally decide who will run their city.”
What do the sources not confirm?
The texts we drew on contain no response from OTP Bank to the claim of a technical problem, so for now the reason for the delay rests solely on what the director relayed to the Independent Trade Union. There is also no confirmation that the money reached employees on October 27. Nor do the sources say how many workers are affected or what amounts are involved.
