Some Chinese companies, some Australian ones, announcement of factories and digging for Serbian gold – 2024 Retrospective, investments in INDUSTRY

Announcements of investments in the expansion or opening of factories, as well as the arrival of new “Serbian gold diggers”, marked the year behind us when it comes to the industrial sector in Serbia, at least as far as the readers of the eKapija portal are concerned.

According to the data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, industrial production in 2024 recorded a growth of 3.0% compared to the previous year, there were also investments made in terms of opening plants, but the announcements, as in previous years, intrigued our readership the most.

It seems that happiness definitely feels good only while you’re waiting for it...

So let's see what captured your attention last year, in the industrial sector:

1. Are the Chinese (also) entering Dobanovci?

The first on the list and definitely the most read article in this field is the exclusive news from eKapija that the Chinese giant Minth has acquired ownership of the land planned for the construction of the Singidunum mega-complex in Dobanovci, which was to be built by the Greek Lamda Development.

Spark Investment, owned by Chinese Minth Holdings Limited and Swiss investment fund Spectrum Equity Partners AG, purchased a plot of land in Belgrade in October for EUR 36 million.

Although Lamda did not specify the exact location of the land sold, it is known that Singidunum Buildings, a subsidiary of the Greek company, planned to build a mega-complex near Dobanovci.

Chinese Minth, which mainly produces auto parts, already has production facilities in Serbia in Loznica and Sabac, so the question arises as to what they plan to build in Dobanovci, and based on everything known so far, the plans could possibly be related to lithium and the production of batteries for electric vehicles.

It should also be added that this story of ours was also “amplified” by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, when he wrote on his Instagram account buducnostsrbijeav this January that “after building factories in Sabac and Loznica, Minth wants to build new capacities and projects in other parts of Serbia.”

2. China’s plan “USA via Zrenjanin”

In second place - another Chinese company. This is another announcement, this time related to the Linglong company, which already has a tire factory in Zrenjanin. We were the first to announce that Linglong plans to export tires made in Serbia to the USA, which would practically try to “bypass” American anti-dumping measures on the import of Chinese tires into the USA. Judging by the number of readers, this is very intriguing information, especially in light of the new American president's announcements about introducing additional tariffs on products from China, and the subsequent sanctions on Naftna Industrija Srbije by America, which showed Serbia that the Americans are not joking...

3. Australians to mine!

In the midst of the turbulent events that accompanied the revival of the intention to mine lithium in Serbia, our announcement that “Australians will still mine” came as rubbing salt into a wound. Although it is not lithium, but antimony, this did not calm the domestic public, so the news that the Australian Bindi Metals had purchased licenses for two antimony projects in Serbia, Donja Mutnica near Paracin and Lisa near Ivanjica (the famous Lisa mines, from the time when mining was the most important economic sector in Ivanjica), further stirred up upset spirits and awakened the “anti-mining” defiance.

4. Gold!

And then it was gold’s turn... The information that, according to some sources, the largest gold deposit in Europe, located in Serbia, is for sale attracted a lot of attention. We are talking about the Lece mine near Medvedja. The Bankruptcy Supervision Agency announced the sale of Farmakom MB Koncern - the Lece mine near Medvedja, whose estimated value is around EUR 69 million, which was then sold at an initial price of EUR 34.5 million to the company Mediolanum Invest.

5. The Chinese again, this time in Indjija

The hunger for Chinese investments in Serbia seems insatiable, at least judging by our list. Thus, Minth once again found itself among the most read articles, and this time it was the announcement that it would build a factory for the production of electric vehicles, in Indjija.

According to the text of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of Serbia and the company Minth Holdings Limited, which the Serbian Government adopted this summer, the plan is for EUR 870 million to be invested and 2,220 workers to be employed during the ten-year investment period.

6. New Serbian gold diggers

And, again, gold, and again, Australians. The gold rush in Serbia is reaching its peak after eKapija revealed that a company from the land of kangaroos, Strickland Metals, bought the right to explore for gold on the Rogozna mountain near Novi Pazar. And there, they say, there is enough gold for a half of Europe... Computer mouses were working overtime, clicks were pouring down on our portal. Not long after, the news arrived that Australians had struck gold on Rogozna! Angry comments like “They came here to mine, when Australia is so big” and “Can’t we do it ourselves” and the like were pouring in for days. They have not yet started digging, but this year news arrived from faraway Australia that Strickland had drilled more than 60,000 meters in Rogozna in search of gold, and sent 400 kg of samples for analysis in Perth, and that the tests should soon give the company the final signal to continue developing Rogozna as an independent project.

7. The Japanese in Indjija too: As promised

After the Chinese, the Japanese came, barely somehow, to the table. Thus, in seventh position was the news that the Japanese company JFE Shoji had submitted a request for a decision on the need for an environmental impact assessment for the construction of a complex for the production of metal parts for electric motors in Indjija.

At that time, it was announced that the cornerstone for a new Japanese investment, which would create 200 jobs in Indjija in the first phase, would be laid in March.

The Japanese are, as we know, serious people, so this was not just an announcement: on March 18 precisely, as they said, they began building a factory for the production of rotors and electric motors (wipers and lifters) for the largest brands in the automotive industry, and a little later they announced the possibility of expanding the production capacities.

8. Who do you think would go to Europe in Serbian rail cars?

And in eighth place, you guessed it – the Chinese again. This time they were looking for partners for the production of rail cars, so representatives of the CRCC company visited the Gosa and Zelvoz factories.

CRCC specializes in the production and overhaul of freight rail cars, and their main goal is to cooperate with a domestic Serbian factory in Europe in order to enable the placement of their products on the European market, so they caught the eye of our iconic manufacturers and overhaulers of rail vehicles.

9. And who represents European investments in Serbian industry?



Investors from Western Europe finally make it to the ninth position on our list. In May, the Austrian Palfinger factory, whose construction in Nis began in September 2023, announced that it would start production in June of this year. Since Austrians are no less serious than the Japanese, they already began trial production of cranes and hoists at the plant at the end of May, where they plan to employ 375 workers by 2027.

On the list of the most read articles, Europe is represented by another, still unidentified, German investor, who was announced this summer as the savior that would raise FAP from the ashes and build the first factory in the city on the Lim River after 40 years. The construction of a new factory for the production of parts for the automotive industry was announced in the FAP Machine Processing section, with a plan to employ at least 100 workers.

10. Zijin to continue to mine as well

Minth automotive Europe doo Loznica

Linglong International Europe d.o.o. Zrenjanin

Serbia Zijin Copper doo Bor

Mediolanum invest a.d. Beograd

JFE Shoji Serbia d.o.o. Inđija

Palfinger proizvodnja d.o.o. Niš

Rudnik Lece doo Šabac u stečaju

Minth

Palfinger

Zijin Mining Bor

Strickland Metals

Bindi Metals

JFE Shoji

Linglong

Mediolanum Invest

Goša

Želvoz

CRCC

FAP

Lece mine

Čukaru Peki

Singidunum complex

production of batteries for electric vehicles

lithium

gold

antimony

gold explorations

gold on Rogozna

2024 retrospective in field of investments

factory for production of electric vehicles in Inđija

factory for production of electric parts for electric motors in Inđija