Serbia awarded €7.05 billion in public-procurement contracts exempt from its ordinary tender law in 2025, equal to 47% of a €15 billion market, according to figures in the European Commission’s Serbia assessment. The scale of contracting outside standard procedures matters for public investment because it affects how prices and supplier selection can be scrutinised.
Contracts awarded under the Public Procurement Law totalled €7.95 billion in 2025. Exempt contracts rose from €5.7 billion in 2024, an increase of almost 24% in one year, the assessment reported.
The Commission found Serbia’s procurement legislation broadly aligned with European Union rules, but said those rules continued to be circumvented through intergovernmental agreements and special laws. Such agreements accounted for approximately €1.7 billion, or about a quarter of exempt contracting in 2025. Transparency had improved but remained insufficient.
Energy and infrastructure exemptions
Not all exemptions are unlawful, and their combined value does not show that the money was wasted. Serbia’s procurement legislation permits exceptions, including specified international arrangements and purchases by energy-sector operators. Competitive tendering can establish price benchmarks, document supplier selection and give unsuccessful bidders routes to challenge awards.
Serbian procurement data show that Srbijagas and Elektroprivreda Srbije used an exemption for goods acquired for onward sale in 2025. The contracts were worth approximately €1 billion for Srbijagas and €450 million for Elektroprivreda Srbije. A separate exemption covering energy and fuel used in energy production applied to contracts worth approximately €1.1 billion.
Those operating purchases have different economics from roads or buildings and should not be conflated with construction awards. The Commission also identified continuing exceptions linked to EXPO 2027, motorway development and other infrastructure projects, as well as restrictions on competition in prequalification for the proposed Đerdap 3 pumped-storage project.
Disclosure and value for money
A central public-investment concern is whether budgets, cost increases and change orders can be independently tested when ordinary tender procedures are not used. Extensive exemptions may favour contractors positioned within government-to-government financing or project-specific agreements over smaller domestic bidders.
Such arrangements can speed project mobilisation or secure external financing, but may reduce public visibility over unit costs, subcontractor access and procurement risks unless equivalent disclosure and audit safeguards are in place. Serbia was preparing a new government amid renewed debate over industrial incentives and state spending.
A practical test of procurement reform is whether the authorities publish contract-level data, identify the legal basis for each exemption and demonstrate value for money across both operating purchases and infrastructure investment.
