Serbia’s State Audit Institution (DRI) has issued a negative opinion on the City of Belgrade’s consolidated financial statements for 2025, citing major irregularities in the recording of public assets, including land estimated to be worth more than €5 billion.
The audit found discrepancies between land registered in the Republic Geodetic Authority’s database and the city’s own records. Belgrade was registered as holding various rights over approximately 129.8 million square metres of land, including full public ownership of around 106.4 million square metres. However, the city’s accounting records listed only around 42.6 million square metres, leaving a difference of at least 61 million square metres of land owned by the city that had not been properly recorded.
The report also identified at least 100 buildings, two stadiums and 24 garages that had not been entered into the city’s books.
The unrecorded properties cover at least 56,881 square metres, with their value and the city’s reported capital understated by at least 6.7 billion dinars. The two stadiums are located in Obrenovac and Palilula. Auditors warned that failing to register publicly owned assets creates a risk of inaccurate financial reporting and potential loss of property.
The audit highlighted additional administrative shortcomings, including the failure to properly measure and record a bicycle lane in Nemanjina Street, which was listed in units rather than metres. The estimated financial impact of the missing land was calculated using average book values per square metre in each municipal district; the auditors stressed that this was an assessment of the impact on financial statements, not an estimate of the properties’ market value.
