Tanaskovic Says Vesic was Running the Entire Reconstruction Project in Agreement with Vucic

Jelena Tanaskovic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

During a hearing before Novi Sad’s prosecutors, the acting director of the Serbian Railways Infrastructure, Jelena Tanaskovic, a suspect in the case of a roof collapse that killed 15 people at the Novi Sad central train station and left two with serious injuries, shifted complete responsibility for the Railway Station reconstruction project to a former minister, Goran Vesic, Nova Ekonomija reported on Dec. 16.

Tanaskovic testified that Vesic insisted on managing all projects himself, as he had allegedly made such an arrangement with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Nova Ekonomija quoted the document it had been given access to.

"Minister Vesic told me that the only condition for me to be the director was to accept that he should oversee and fully manage all projects, as he had supposedly agreed with the president that it was the only way the projects should be handled," Tanaskovic stated.

The former official’s testimony before the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad, which Nova Ekonomija had access to, contain the wording.

Tanaskovic denied responsibility for the railway project, shifting the blame to Minister Vesic, his assistant Anita Dimoski, and other officials.