{"id":43488,"date":"2026-06-24T14:17:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/?p=43488"},"modified":"2026-06-24T14:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:34:18","slug":"expo-deals-and-hidden-connections-people-close-to-criminal-networks-and-the-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/expo-deals-and-hidden-connections-people-close-to-criminal-networks-and-the-government\/","title":{"rendered":"EXPO Deals and Hidden Connections: People Close to Criminal Networks and the Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sur\u010din is rapidly changing.<\/p>

Since mid-2023, when Serbia was officially selected to host the specialized international exhibition EXPO 2027, a trade and residential complex, a national football stadium, and supporting infrastructure have been springing up on the outskirts of Belgrade.<\/p>

While construction is progressing rapidly, the individuals involved in this state project have remained largely unnoticed.<\/p>

For months, CINS tried to obtain an official list of companies involved in this project, but without success.<\/p>

For this reason, we\u2019ve investigated and uncovered the names of the companies through conversations with people, by contacting companies directly, and by collecting court and other documents. We\u2019ve built a database of over 200 companies that we have confirmed are working on one of the most important state projects as contractors, subcontractors, or suppliers.<\/p>

These include companies whose involvement in the EXPO project was previously unknown to the public and that have ties to associates and relatives of people from criminal circles, as well as people close to the government.<\/p>

CINS can reveal that these jobs involve companies owned by associates and families of the former leader of the Sur\u010din clan and member of the Zemun clan, a convicted member of the Pink Panther<\/em> group, as well as a person convicted of helping to cover up for \u017deljko Ra\u017enatovi\u0107 Arkan’s killer. The sister of Aleksandar Vidojevi\u0107<\/strong> \u2014 aka Aca Ro\u0161avi<\/strong>, a man close to the Serbian President\u2019s son and a Partizan<\/em> ultras \u2014 is also generating revenue from the project, as is a former leader of the Alcatraz ultras group convicted of the murder of Brice Taton<\/strong>. A businessman who serves as the vice president of the board of directors of FC Red Star<\/em>, known for multi-million vehicle procurements for the Ministry of Interior (MUP)<\/em>, is also working on EXPO.<\/p>

Keep reading to find out more about the profiles of these companies, their owners, and their connections to criminal circles, or search the database of all the companies we\u2019ve uncovered HERE<\/a>.<\/p>

Maki\u0161 Beton \u2013 Company Owned by Aca Ro\u0161avi’s Sister and a Convict in the Arkan Case<\/h2>

The company Maki\u0161 Beton<\/em> was founded in mid-2024 as a concrete production company. This was one year after Serbia was selected to host EXPO. Financial reports indicate that this company was quickly hired for major state projects in the capital, such as Belgrade Waterfront<\/em> and EXPO.<\/p>

Last year, Maki\u0161 Beton’s<\/em> revenues increased sevenfold compared to 2024. Out of 2.1 billion RSD in income, 70% of the money came from working on EXPO.<\/p>

The majority owner of the company Maki\u0161 Beton<\/em> is Marijana \u0110eri\u0107 Mandre\u0161<\/strong>, who CINS can reveal is the sister of Aleksandar Vidojevi\u0107 \u2013 a member of the former Partizan ultras group Janji\u010dari<\/em>, known for causing incidents, and a man close to the Serbian Progressive Party<\/em> (SNS).<\/p>

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Aleksandar Vidojevi\u0107 at a Serbian Progressive Party pre-election convention; Photo: Nova.rs<\/em><\/p>

On \u0110eri\u0107 Mandre\u0161’s Facebook profile, there is no publicly available information regarding EXPO. The profile only mentions her long-standing employment at Telekom Srbija<\/em>.<\/p>

Aside from their fierce support for Partizan<\/em>, she and her brother Aleksandar Vidojevi\u0107 are linked by their parents and the same address, as well as intertwined family and business relationships.<\/p>

In fact, Vidojevi\u0107 is registered at the same address as his sister and her husband \u2013 an apartment belonging to her husband’s father. The police looked for Vidojevi\u0107 at that address in February of this year because he was evading court. As they did not find him in the apartment, they called his sister, who told them that her brother informed her he had contacted the court and was currently abroad.<\/p>

Additionally, in May 2025, Vidojevi\u0107’s wife, Nada<\/strong>, took over ownership of the company Ozon Clean<\/em>, which until that point had been held by Nenad Mandre\u0161<\/strong>, the husband of his sister Marijana.<\/p>

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Proceedings are currently underway against Vidojevi\u0107 for violent behavior, the First Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office<\/em> in Belgrade<\/em> confirmed for CINS. In fact, he ended up in custody following an incident at the nightclub Komitet<\/em> in Beton Hala in 2018 and was later accused, along with ten others, of vandalizing the premises and beating several people. The trial has been postponed multiple times, and according to Radar<\/a>, Vidojevi\u0107 did not appear at the hearings.<\/p>

Two traffic offense proceedings were also conducted against him at the Misdemeanor Court in Belgrade<\/em>, but the statute of limitations has expired in both cases.<\/p>

For years, Vidojevi\u0107 has been linked to SNS. According to Nova<\/a>, in 2023, he led SNS activists and sympathizers who attended a pre-election convention at the Belgrade Arena. Also well-known are photos of Vidojevi\u0107 with Danilo Vu\u010di\u0107 <\/strong>\u2013 in the stands at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and later at a Belgrade caf\u00e9, where they watched a match together.<\/p>

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Danilo Vu\u010di\u0107 and Aleksandar Vidojevi\u0107 at the 2018 FIFA World Cup \/ Screenshot from the match broadcast<\/em><\/p>

In the court proceedings where he is accused of the torture and murder of seven people in Ritopek, drug trafficking, and possessing an arsenal of weapons, Veljko Belivuk<\/strong> named Aleksandar Vidojevi\u0107 as a key link to top state officials, as reported by KRIK<\/a>.<\/p>

The second co-owner of the company Maki\u0161 Beton<\/em>, with a 40% share, is Vujadin Krsti\u0107<\/strong>, through his company Ma\u010dva Novogradnja. Krsti\u0107 is linked to the murder case of \u017deljko Ra\u017enatovi\u0107 Arkan<\/strong> at the Intercontinental Hotel<\/em> in early 2000.<\/p>

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Vujadin Krsti\u0107; Photo: MUP Serbia<\/em><\/p>

In fact, after being wounded in the shooting himself, Arkan’s killer Dobrosav Gavri\u0107<\/strong> asked Krsti\u0107 to find him a doctor in a private clinic in Loznica for medical help. The next day, Krsti\u0107 took a bloody bulletproof vest from that clinic and brought it to his best man, Mile \u0110uri\u0107<\/strong>, instructing him to wash the vest, hide it, and lie if necessary that it had been brought from Kosovo.<\/p>

For aiding the killer, Krsti\u0107 was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison.<\/p>

Krsti\u0107 is a metal milling machine operator by profession, and the verdict also noted that he was a reserve police officer in the early 2000s. Today, in addition to producing concrete, Vujadin Krsti\u0107 runs a caf\u00e9-pizzeria in Loznica.<\/p>

CINS contacted both owners of Maki\u0161 Beton<\/em>, Vujadin Krsti\u0107 and Marijana \u0110eri\u0107 Mandre\u0161, who said in a brief conversation that they would call back later. When our journalist called them again, she was unable to establish contact with them.<\/p>

Valjevo Road Company \u2013 links to \u010cume<\/h2>

According to documents reviewed by CINS, Valjevo Road Company<\/em> (PZP Valjevo) provides sand for the road infrastructure project within EXPO. This company specializes in the construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of road infrastructure, and has been working for years on state projects like road and bridge construction and landslide remediation.<\/p>

For years, the former leader of the Sur\u010din clan, Ljubi\u0161a Buha, aka \u010cume<\/strong>, has been associated with PZP Valjevo.<\/p>

In fact, this company was privatized in 2005 by Du\u0161an Vasovi\u0107<\/strong>, known to the public as Buha’s lawyer. Roughly 74% of the ownership in PZP Valjevo officially belongs to the lawyer Vasovi\u0107, while the rest belongs to minority shareholders.<\/p>

“I don’t think we work for Expo. We work for some of their subcontractors. We are doing some minor asphalt work,” Vasovi\u0107 told CINS, directing further communication to the company’s director, Aleksandar Popovi\u0107<\/strong>. However, Popovi\u0107 stated he was not authorized to provide information.<\/p>

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Ljubi\u0161a Buha \u010cume, Photo: Aleksandar Stankovi\u0107<\/em><\/p>

Buha’s ex-wife Ivana Tulovi\u0107<\/strong> previously told Capital<\/em><\/a> that Buha is the real owner of numerous companies formally registered to other individuals \u2013 including PZP Valjevo and the Banja Luka-based firm Lein<\/em>.<\/p>

CINS previously reported<\/a> that Lein, together with its business partners, held the land and construction permits for small hydropower plants at 24 locations in the Bosilegrad municipality. Through co-ownership in the firm Pure Energy<\/em>, it also participated in selling the Virovci<\/em> small hydropower plant project to the company VS Energy<\/em>, whose owners were Slavko Pandrc<\/strong> and his son Milo\u0161 Pandrc<\/strong>, a former member of Darko \u0160ari\u0107\u2019s<\/strong> clan.<\/p>

Ljubi\u0161a Buha \u010cume was the leader of the Sur\u010din clan, which in the 1990s was one of the most organized international cocaine and heroin smuggling rings in this part of Europe, according to MUP’s White Book \u2013 a document outlining organized crime groups from the early 2000s.<\/p>

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Excerpt from MUP\u2019s White Book<\/em><\/p>

The group initially engaged in car theft and returning stolen vehicles for ransom before later turning to large-scale drug trafficking. It also amassed serious material wealth through the illegal trade of oil, petroleum products, and cigarettes.<\/p>

Ljubi\u0161a Buha \u010cume was a cooperating witness in the trial for the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran \u0110in\u0111i\u0107<\/strong>. The court evaluated Buha’s testimony as crucial to uncovering the inner workings of the Zemun clan.<\/p>

Before the Prime Minister\u2019s assassination, members of the Zemun clan tried to kill Buha on multiple occasions, and by her own admission, his then-wife participated in one of the attempts.<\/p>

NM Kop \u2013 the company owned by Bagzi’s Son<\/h2>

The company NM Kop<\/em> has been engaged in sand excavation for ten years.<\/p>

Since its founding in 2016, the owner of NM Kop has been Nemanja Milenkovi\u0107<\/strong> \u2013 son of Dejan Milenkovi\u0107 Bagzi<\/strong>, a former member of the Zemun and Sur\u010din clans.<\/p>

In a conversation with CINS, Nemanja Milenkovi\u0107 initially denied his company’s involvement in the EXPO project, emphasizing that he does not carry out construction work.<\/p>

However, CINS obtained documents from the Third Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office <\/em>regarding a criminal complaint against NM Kop over suspicions of illegal sand excavation. In the complaint, which was dismissed last year, excerpts from Milenkovi\u0107’s testimony are cited, where he states that at the time of the disputed excavation, in early 2025, NM Kop’s full capacities were engaged in the EXPO 2027 project.<\/p>

After CINS\u2019s journalist presented Milenkovi\u0107 with the statement he gave to the prosecution, he admitted that the company had indeed participated in the project.<\/p>

“That was already finished last year.”<\/p>

Milenkovi\u0107 ultimately specified that his role is strictly in the production and sale of sand. He claims that because of this, he does not have precise insight into where the material is later used, stating that he does not question drivers about where they take the sand after purchase.<\/p>

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The illustration was created using AI and depicts Nemanja Milenkovi\u0107<\/em><\/p>

Cases have been formed against Nemanja Milenkovi\u0107 in several Belgrade prosecutor’s offices for multiple criminal offenses, which those offices confirmed to CINS. Among them is a charge for unauthorized possession of narcotics, of which he was later acquitted, and two complaints for theft were also dismissed. A pre-investigation proceeding for tax evasion is currently underway, while for the illegal possession of weapons, CINS was not provided with information regarding the outcome of the case.<\/p>

The Misdemeanor Court in Belgrade<\/em> conducted a total of 16 proceedings against Milenkovi\u0107 and his company, including those for disturbing public order and peace, speeding, and improper overtaking. Only one ended in a conviction, and one in an acquittal. The statute of limitations expired in the others, or they are still ongoing, or the fine for which proceedings were initiated was paid.<\/p>

Nemanja Milenkovi\u0107’s father, Dejan Milenkovi\u0107 Bagzi, was one of the key figures of the Sur\u010din clan and later the Zemun clan, who received the status of a cooperating witness in the trial for the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran \u0110in\u0111i\u0107.<\/p>

Prior to the assassination, he participated in an attempt on \u0110in\u0111i\u0107’s life on the highway near today’s Belgrade Arena<\/em>. The attack’s objective, as outlined in the plan, was to halt the vehicle and facilitate the assault. Bagzi was arrested immediately but was released shortly after.<\/p>

Following the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran \u0110in\u0111i\u0107 in March 2003 and the launch of police Operation Sablja (Saber), which targeted the perpetrators of the assassination, Milenkovi\u0107 went on the run, successfully evading the largest police manhunt in the country.<\/p>

He was located and arrested in July 2004 in Greece, from where he was extradited to Serbia in February 2005.<\/p>

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The arrest of Dejan Milenkovi\u0107 \u2013 Bagzi in Thessaloniki; Photo: B92\/Screenshot<\/em><\/p>

A complaint was filed against NM Kop<\/em> over suspicions that it illegally excavated sand last year \u2013 at the time it was engaged on EXPO, CINS reveals.<\/p>

In fact, a mining inspection carried out a special inspection of NM Kop in February and March 2025 and found an artificial lake on the ground where they were excavating sand. The inspection concluded that the company had gone beyond the boundaries for which it held a permit.<\/p>

The topsoil was stripped by about three meters at locations for which the Ministry of Mining and Energy<\/em> had not issued approval at the time, the inspection\u2019s report states.<\/p>

The inspection banned the company from further sand excavation on the disputed plot and ordered it to restore the terrain to its previous state. Then, in May 2025, it filed a commercial offense complaint against NM Kop. These proceedings are still ongoing.<\/p>

Nemanja Milenkovi\u0107 tells CINS that he was reported to the inspection by “people who do not exist, dead people,” and that he suspects the competing company, PZP Valjevo, is behind it all.<\/p>

“The competition reports you, but oh well. What can you do.”<\/p>

The majority owner of PZP Valjevo, Du\u0161an Vasovi\u0107, has denied these allegations.<\/p>

“No one from my company would do that or deal with that kind of thing. We work for ourselves, and whatever we can do better \u2013 we do it.”<\/p>

Conflict between competing firms<\/h2>

A conflict also escalated with the competing enterprise PZP Valjevo on that very stretch of land. About two weeks after the inspection's arrival, PZP Valjevo purchased co-ownership shares in a plot of land that was crucial for NM Kop's planned mine expansion.<\/p><\/div>

Since Milenkovi\u0107's company already owned a portion of that land, they sued PZP Valjevo, claiming that the sale was carried out in secret and in direct violation of the statutory right of first refusal.<\/p><\/div>

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