Reality check: what Serbian experts actually say about the robot plan

Between the ribbon-cutting language and the outright dismissals, the most useful Serbian voices on the humanoid-robot plan are the ones that do both: acknowledge real capability and refuse the hype. As the July start date slipped, domestic experts laid out a sober version of the story worth reading alongside the announcements.

The engineer's view: talent, but not a supply chain

Kosta Jovanović, a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Electrical Engineering, called opening robot production “good news” but urged caution. “If this is an isolated event, it's almost meaningless for Serbian robotics development,” he said, arguing the country has “very good human potential but not complete industrial capacity” for humanoids — the actuators, motors, sensors, batteries and control electronics that a real supply chain needs. His read on where humanoids land first: service sectors — reception, education, tourism — rather than classical industry.

Opening a factory does not automatically make Serbia a robotics power. Robotics requires a systematic approach: investment in people, universities, research institutes.

The economist's view: marketing before an election

Economists were blunter. Danilo Šuković called the current announcements “political marketing before elections” and said Serbia lacks the prerequisites to create and apply robots at scale. Božo Drašković was sharper still — “a carnival show for the people” — noting that the leading nations in the field remain the United States and China, with Serbia on the margins. Notably, when the outlet put detailed questions to the Minth factory, government ministries and the presidency, none responded.

Holding both things at once

The honest position is not “hype” or “fraud” but the narrower one the engineers describe: Serbia can plausibly assemble humanoid robots, and assembly is not the same as an industry. Which of the two this becomes depends on the unglamorous parts — components, R&D, trained people — that do not photograph as well as a dancing robot. That is the axis Rojium will judge the project on.

Sources

• Nova Ekonomija — Stižu humanoidni roboti, samo kasne: ima li Srbija kapacitete
• Serbian Monitor — Academician Vukosavić: humanoid robots are a distraction
• ITNetwork — Roboti u Srbiji: gde donose korist, a gde prodajemo tehnološku maglu