Belgrade Becoming Regional Tech Center, Big Companies Opening Development Centers - 2022 Retrospective, Investments in Telecommunications and IT

The prime minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, said at the end of last year that the 2022 exports of the IT industry would exceed EUR 2.5 billion, of which the surplus would amount to over EUR 1.5 billion, and that, in the preceding year, each second new job had been in the IT sector.

That Belgrade is truly becoming the technological center of the region is confirmed by the big companies which are opening development centers in the capital of Serbia. Luxoft has arrived, and Yandex has also announced the opening of a development center, as have numerous smaller studios.

Here is the list of the 10 most read stories on our portal in the field of telecommunications and IT in 2022.

1. Building of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade

The design by the 4 Mind design studio was selected as the winner at the contest for the preparation of an urban-architectural design of the new building of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering with the shared features of the technical faculties in Belgrade.

The new building will have three amphitheaters, an innovation, research and startup center, and will be built in phases. Phase 1 entails the construction of a new facility connected with the technical faculties facility and the facilities of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Faculty of Technology, as well as the reconstruction of all the existing facilities that are affected by new construction activities. Phase 2 includes the extension of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Faculty of Technology, as well as the construction of a pavilion structure in the rear of the University Library.

The new building of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering is fully functionally integrated in its immediate and wider surroundings.

2. Wargaming studio Belgrade

The company behind the popular tank- and warship-themed video games “World of Tanks” and “World of Warships” – Wargaming is opening a studio in Belgrade, the company announced in June.

In addition to Belgrade, new studios will also open in Warsaw. As said, Warsaw and Belgrade were a logical choice for these new locations, as both cities are fast-developing tech sectors.

In a total of eight studios in Europe, 400 people will work.

3. Yandex development center Belgrade

The Global IT company Yandex announced the opening of a development center in Serbia, which will employ more than 800 engineers who will work on the most modern IT solutions, the Government of Serbia announced in November.

At the meeting between the prime minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, and the delegation of Yandex, led by the head of the Department for International Policy, Maxim Kozlov, it was agreed to continue discussions and improve cooperation in the field of education, considering that this company, in addition to creating software, additionally works in the field of IT education.

4. Smart cities of Serbia

In June, the Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment published the tender for the procurement of a software solution and equipment for the purposes of establishing Smart Cities in several cities in Serbia.

According to the specification of the tender, the subject of the procurement is the delivery and implementation of a platform for smart cities which is harmonized with European standards and trends in the Smart City domain, based on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, but which also supports other modern communications technologies, collects information in real time, analyzes the collected information and takes adequate actions based on the results.

The value of the job is estimated at RSD 1.25 billion (around EUR 10.5 million).

5. Expansion of Technology Park Belgrade

At the Technology Park Belgrade, the plan is to build another three buildings. The investor in the preparation of the urban project of the planned buildings within the Technology Park is the Office for Public Investment Management, whereas the carrier of the preparation of the project is the company Energoprojekt urbanizam i arhitektura from Belgrade.

The urban project envisages the construction of 3 new facilities with an underground garage. According to the urban planning documentation, each of the facilities is meant for innovation activities of the companies, and in addition to that, numerous joint features, such as the Center for the Maturing of Innovations and a cafeteria, are planned as well.

6. Luxoft development center in Belgrade

In November, Luxoft opened the Development Center in Belgrade and the company already has more than 1,000 employees in the country, and, as the prime minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, said at the opening, by the end of 2023, there will be over 2,000.

According to the website of the Government of Serbia, 85% of the employees came from the Russian Federation.

Luxoft makes software solutions for the automotive industry, banking and telecommunications, their clients are some of the world`s biggest brands, and it has more than 20,000 employees in 30 countries.

7. Expansion of Ananas app in the region

Ananas e-commerce, a marketplace with the seat in Serbia, bought the 100% ownership in the North Macedonian company Vebspot from the company Payten. This way, Ananas became the owner of the online shopping brands Grouper.mk and Paopao.mk.

In the North Macedonian market, Grouper.mk is known for the business of sale of service vouchers, whereas the recently launched website Paopao.mk is a marketplace for the online purchase of products. The acquisition of Grouper as the leading ecommerce player in the North Macedonian market with nearly 300,000 users and 3,000 traders is Ananas’ first step toward a regional expansion.

8. Digital network in rural areas of Serbia

The works within the project of development of broadband infrastructure in rural areas of Serbia, organized by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications in a separate department of the “Radovic Sisters” Elementary School in the village of Zagorica, municipality of Topola, started on December 4.

– This entire project is worth EUR 500 million, of which EUR 250 million is the investment of the state, and EUR 250 million is the investment of private partners of telecommunications companies – the prime minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, said while visiting the site.

9. HYCU center in Belgrade

HYCU is one of the leading software companies in the world for the management and protection of the data of some of the biggest business systems. In less than a year, the software developed in Serbia has expanded to over 33 countries worldwide. Some of their companies-partners are Microsoft, Citrix, Nutanix and Google Cloud.

HYCU is one of the fastest growing companies in the world and it is building a center with 100 employees here in Belgrade, Serbia, at this very moment.

– We have felt that people in Serbia truly understand what hard, dedicated work means and that they understand how we can satisfy our 3,000 customers worldwide. We already have 60 people here. We will have 100 people by the end of the year, probably 200 people by the end of next year – said Simon Taylor, the CEO of HYCU.

10. IBM development center Novi Sad

The first IBM development center in Novi Sad opened in December, where technologies for IBM's needs will be developed.

General Manager of IBM for Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania Nikola Polic noted that software would be developed in the company's office in Novi Sad.

– This is of great importance for local IBM, because we are finally opening another office in Serbia, which will deal with very specific technology development. This is important for Serbia, because it shows that it is an excellent place for the arrival of large technology companies – Polic pointed out.

We presented the ten investments that attracted the most attention from our readers when it comes to investments in telecommunications and IT. Make sure to view the full list HERE.

We are also inviting you to see which investments marked 2022 in the TOURISM, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION, INDUSTRY and AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY segments.