The Serbian government has allocated 7.2 million dinars from the budget reserve to cover the promotional activities required for the International Specialized Exhibition EXPO Belgrade 2027. This funding was taken from the Ministry of Finance’s intervention funds program.
This is not the first time funds have been moved from the budget reserve for EXPO Belgrade 2027. Earlier this year, in March, around 4.5 million dinars were transferred to the Belgrade Fair to support activities promoting the exhibition.
Specialized exhibitions like EXPO 2027 are global events that address specific challenges facing humanity. These events are limited to a maximum of three months and cover up to 25 hectares of space. For EXPO 2027, the 2024 budget includes a total of 22.6 billion dinars allocated to the Ministry of Finance, with an additional 640 million dinars earmarked for supporting the event’s implementation. In 2023, the budget allocated 3.9 billion dinars for the EXPO, but it remains unclear how much of this was actually spent.
According to Boban Veličković, Deputy Director of the Construction Directorate of Serbia, some of the buildings constructed for the EXPO will be repurposed for the Belgrade Fair after the event.
The EXPO complex will be built in Surčin, near the planned National Stadium and Belgrade Fair grounds. The exact cost of the exhibition, and how much it will ultimately cost Serbian citizens, remains uncertain as calculations for the construction of the Surčin complex are still confidential.
Serbia was selected as the host of EXPO 2027 in June 2023, beating out other contenders, including the United States (Minnesota), Thailand (Phuket), Spain (Malaga) and Argentina (Bariloche). The event will take place from May 15 to August 15, 2027, with the theme “Game(s) for Humanity – Sport and Music for All.”
