EUR 500 Million for Internet to Reach Every Village of Serbia – 2023 Retrospective, Investments in TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND IT

The digitization of the public government has been in public focus for years, and that it is especially important to business people is also shown by the fact that the most read article on our portal about investments in the field of telecommunications and IT in 2023 talks about cloud-based eInvoices.

Last year, the Republic Geodetic Authority introduced the new Central Information System for the Real Estate Register for the territory of Belgrade, and the web portal of the information system for the forests of Serbia started working as well.

We learned that the science-technology parks in Cacak, Krusevac and Nis, the Regional Innovation Startup Center in Leskovac, as well as the new logistics center of the Post Office in Batajnica, will be built and expanded.

Foreign companies arrived too, so the regional center of Oracle Cloud opened at the State Data Center in Kragujevac, and the French Capgemini bought the Belgrade-based HDL Design House, which designs silicon chips.

The only topic from 2022 which repeated in 2023 is the story about the building of digital networks in the rural parts of Serbia, which, as announced, is a job worth EUR 500 million.

We bring you the list of the ten investments in the field of telecommunications and IT which drew the most attention from our readers.

1. Cloud-based eInvoices, Semi-Automatic Filling Out of VAT Returns

At the end of the year, the Ministry of Finance published two tenders for the upgrade of the eInvoices system, which pertain to semi-automatic collection of data for the electronic registering of the VAT and the moving to a cloud-based system. The jobs were estimated at around RSD 1.72 billion in total (close to EUR 15 million).

2. Palace of Science Belgrade

The Miodrag Kostic Foundation will open the first center for research and the popularization of science in Serbia. At the Palace of Science, as part of the cooperation with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade, there will be 19 research centers, and this project entails setting aside EUR 25 million. In addition to being the first center of its kind in Serbia, it will also be the biggest one in the wider region, with an area of 5,500 m2.

The Palace of Science will be located in one of the most beautiful buildings in the center of Belgrade, on the corner of Kralja Milana and Kneza Milosa streets.

3. Facility for Design and Verification of Silicon Chips HDL Design House – investments

The French company for consulting and technology services Capgemini has bought HDL Design House from Serbia, a company which designs and verifies silicon chips.

According to the press release of the French company, HDL Design House, founded in 2001, and with the seat in Belgrade, is a leading independent provider of silicon design and verification services in Europe. The price of the transaction has not been disclosed.

4. Construction of 3,280 km of Broadband Network in Villages in 85 Municipalities in Serbia

The minister of information and telecommunications, Mihailo Jovanovic, stated in June that the ministry had devised the plan to introduce fast internet in over 700 villages by the end of 2025, whereby practically the whole Serbia would be covered by broadband internet. The current coverage rate is 75% of the country’s territory.

A step closer toward that goal took place in August, when the call opened for the planning and construction works on a total of 3,280 km of an underground optical network (midmile) in rural areas in 85 municipalities of Serbia. The job will be financed with the proceeds from the EBRD loan. As announced earlier, this is an investment worth EUR 500 million.

5. Web Portal of Information System for Forests of Serbia

MapSoft has designed and implemented the web portal of the information system for the forests of Serbia – WebFIS, whose users are the employees at the Forest Administration, the actors in the forestry sector, which are in charge of decision-making, operating management and control, as well as other sectors and institutions from the domain of nature protection.

Open-source software tools were used in the realization which support widely accepted international and industrial geomatics standards.

6. Startup Center Leskovac

In June, the City of Leskovac published the tender for the construction of the Regional Innovation Startup Center in that city, and the value of the works had been estimated at RSD 68.3 million, without the VAT.

Construction is planned within the complex of the Department for Business Studies in Leskovac, on a parcel with a total area of 11,472 m2.

In March, the City of Leskovac and the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia signed the agreement on the construction of the Regional Innovation Startup Center, and it was said at the time that the value of the investment was RSD 81.9 million.

7. Oracle Cloud Regional Center at State Data Center in Kragujevac

The Regional Center of Oracle Cloud opened last year at the State Data Center in Kragujevac. This global IT giant established the first regional center in Southeast Europe in the State Data Center and started providing its IT cloud-based services to users worldwide, as announced by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications.

8. Logistics Center of Post Office in Batajnica

In August, the Post of Serbia signed the memorandum of cooperation with Mobtel-PTT d.o.o. and PMC-inzenjering d.o.o. regarding the construction project of a business-technological facility for the needs of the Post Office in Batajnica.

As the acting director of the Post of Serbia, Zoran Djordjevic, said, the new logistics center with numerous functional halls and possibilities will be raised in close proximity to the logistic center.

9. Central Information System for Real Estate Register of Belgrade

Last year was also marked by the news that the Republic Geodetic Authority (RGA) had introduced the new Central Information System for the Real Estate Register for the territory of Belgrade. As announced, after more than 20 years and two unsuccessful attempts in that period, the old software was replaced with a new platform which considerably improves the reliability, efficiency, safety, transparency and availability of the process of the listing, transfer and change of ownership over real estate and the management of information about the real estate belonging to the citizens of Serbia.

The Serbian land register is now among the top five land register systems in the world, the RGA announced.

10. Science-Technology Parks Cacak, Nis and Krusevac

In June, the Government of Serbia and the EBRD signed the agreement on the upgrade of the science infrastructure, the construction of new science-technology parks and additional buildings in the existing STPs in the country worth EUR 80 million. The agreement secures EUR 80 million, of which EUR 70 million is meant for the additional construction of science-technology parks (STPs), whereas EUR 10 million is set aside for the BIO 4 campus in Belgrade.

In September, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) published the tender for the construction works on the building and expansion of science-technology parks in Cacak, Krusevac and Nis.



We presented the 10 investments which drew the most attention from our readers when it comes to telecommunications and IT. Make sure to take a look at the full list HERE.

We also invite you to see which investments marked the year 2023 in the fields of TRANSPORTATION, INDUSTRY, PUBLIC UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENERGY, REAL ESTATE, TOURISM, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION, TRADE CENTERS, SPORTS, HEALTHCARE and AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY.

Republički geodetski zavod Beograd

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo informisanja i telekomunikacija Republike Srbije

EBRD Evropska banka za obnovu i razvoj Beograd

HDL Design House doo Beograd

Zadužbina Miodraga Kostića

Mapsoft d.o.o. Beograd

Grad Leskovac

JP Pošta Srbije Beograd

Naučno tehnološki park Niš d.o.o. Niš

Naučno tehnološki park Čačak

Oracle Cloud

State Data Center

Capgemini

Miodrag Kostić Foundation

MapSoft

Science Technology Park Niš

Science Technology Park Čačak

Science Technology Park Kruševac

Mihailo Jovanović

Zoran Đorđević

digitization of public government

eInvoices

Regional Innovation Startup Center

silicon chips

Palace of Science

WebFIS