Belgrade garage 1st in Europe to get Parksmart high-performance, sustainability certificate

The Obilićev Venac garage in downtown Belgrade is the first garage in Europe to have received the Parksmart certificate recognizing high-performing, sustainable garages, the City of Belgrade said in a statement.

The Obilićev Venac garage received the Parksmart Bronze certificate, the highest level achieved so far, making the Belgrade garage one of four in the world to hold that level, according to the statement, issued after Minister of Environmental Protection Goran Trivan and Deputy Mayor Goran Vesić unveiled the Parksmart plaque. The ceremony was also attended by public parking management company Parking Servis top man Andrija Čupković.

The certificate was awarded in the wake of last year’s reconstruction that Vesić recalled transformed the garage into a facility with 804 parking spaces, solar panels, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, and a waste sorting system.

This certificate has so far been handed to a total of 17 garages in the world, according to the statement.

At the unveiling ceremony, Vesić also said that the City of Belgrade plans to procure another 220 buses in the next four years, including 80 electric buses to mostly replace trolley buses in the city center. Belgrade already has five electric buses, he recalled, noting that the city is also discussing the problem of plastic bags with the Serbian government.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to finance the procurement of new electric buses and help modernize trams and tram tracks in the Serbian capital, Head of EIB Regional Representation for the Western Balkans Dubravka Negre recently said.