What it is
GSP Beograd is Belgrade's city-owned public transport utility and one of the main operators of buses, trams, and trolleybuses. In June 2026, the dispute around GSP became more than a pay or working-conditions dispute: it is about who will operate routes, how many new vehicles will be bought, and what role private carriers will get.
What is confirmed now
On June 11, GSP workers, unions, and professional associations went to the Serbian government with demands to stop the public-private partnership tender, obtain a written city guarantee that GSP routes will not be transferred to private carriers, and buy new buses and trolleybuses. On June 24 they handed demands to Aleksandar Vucic; Ivan Bankovic of Sindikat GSP Centar told N1 that Belgrade needs at least 90 trolleybuses, while the city-side solution, as he described it, would buy 60 trolleybuses and leave the rest to a private operator for 20 years.
Public-private partnership
Under Serbian law, a PPP is long-term cooperation between a public and a private partner to finance, build, manage, maintain infrastructure, or provide a public-interest service. It does not automatically mean selling GSP, but it can change who receives routes, who buys or maintains vehicles, how risks are allocated, and how much the city pays the operator under contract.
Trolleybuses and the fleet
In this dispute, the number of trolleybuses has become a checkable marker. The workers' position in N1 reports is that at least 90 trolleybuses are needed because the fleet is outdated. The city-side solution, as Bankovic summarized it, is 60 trolleybuses and a private operator for the remaining scope. GSP's own statistics page says it tracks fleet structure and average fleet age by subsystem, so fleet renewal can be checked not only through statements but also through future public company data.
Free transport and the budget
On June 24, Vucic told workers he had to speak with city officials and tied the dispute to the cost of free city transport: in his words, the service is free for citizens, but the costs are huge. That matters because rides may be free to passengers, but buses, trolleybuses, maintenance, drivers, and payments to private operators are still paid from city or related public money.
What the workers' side wants
Public reports group the workers' demands into three blocks: stop or review the PPP with a private operator, provide a written guarantee that routes stay with GSP, and buy new buses and trolleybuses. A separate political layer is the workers' suspicion that tenders are being tailored for a private player; Vucic told N1 that one cannot oppose public-private partnerships as a model and that repeating a tender five times does not by itself prove it is rigged.
Why it matters
For passengers, this is about route reliability, headways, access to the trolleybus network, and vehicle quality. For workers, it is about jobs, working conditions, and GSP's future role. For taxpayers and businesses, it is about transparency of 20-year obligations, tender competition, and whether the city will get a cheaper and better service or simply shift part of the system to a private operator.
Next decision
On June 24, Vucic promised answers and a meeting with a workers' delegation within seven days; the practical answer window is July 1-2, 2026. Open questions remain: whether the PPP tender stays, whether the trolleybus procurement plan changes, who will operate the disputed routes, and whether GSP receives a written guarantee.