Živković Samardžić, one of the Serbia’s leading full-service independent law firms, is advising Austrian Development Agency on the rehabilitation of flood protection infrastructure in Serbia, a project including the renewal of sewerage systems in Obrenovac and Surčin municipalities in Belgrade wider area, renewal of pumping stations in Obrenovac and the reconstruction of flood protection in the cities of Valjevo, Paraćin and Svilajnac, that entails repair and construction of dams and embankments, construction of an overflow basin and cleaning the riverbeds along the Kolubara, Crnica, Velika Morava, Buk and Resava rivers.
In May 2014, severe floods hit entire regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia, resulting in several dozens of casualties in both countries, causing the destruction of public and private infrastructure, as well as hitting hundreds of thousands of households. Damages and economic losses amount to around EUR 2 billion in Bosnia and Herzegovina and EUR 1.5 billion in the Republic of Serbia. The European Commission adopted, in December 2014, a special measure on flood recovery and flood risk management, aiming to provide assistance to those two countries in order to help them to recover from the floods, with the maximum amount of the European Union contribution for its implementation set at EUR 127 million.
Austrian Development Agency (ADA) is the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation. ADA plans, finances and supports development programmes and projects in the countries of Africa, Asia, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe and the Caribbean, on behalf of the Austrian Federal Government and implements projects in developing countries on behalf of the European Commission. ADA has been entrusted to implement the rehabilitation of flood protection infrastructure project in Serbia, based on its technical, administrative and financial capacity and experience in implementing works contracts in the water sector in Serbia and the Western Balkan region.
Živković Samardžić provided advice to ADA from the project’s initial stages with negotiations and drafting of the cooperation agreements with the Government of the Republic of Serbia, public water management companies and participating cities and municipalities, to the construction permits issuing proceedings, as well as on various regulatory issues, preparation of procurement procedures and drafting of the contacts on supply, services, construction and site supervision.
The Živković Samardžić team advising ADA is led by partner Ksenija Golubović Filipović.