Vučić floats Serbia as Europe's first humanoid-robot producer
BIn early February 2026, President Aleksandar Vučić said Serbia could this year begin one of its largest-ever investments and become the first country in Europe to produce humanoid robots. At that stage it was a statement of intent rather than a signed factory, but it came with specific figures that are worth recording as the baseline against which later announcements can be measured.
The numbers as first stated
The project was framed around Chinese robotics firm AGIBOT, described in the announcement as holding a leading share of global humanoid-robot production, together with Minth Group — a Chinese automotive-parts supplier that already runs plants in Loznica and Šabac. The first cost estimate put the investment at roughly €100 million, split between the Chinese partners and Serbia.
- ~€100 million — initial investment estimate (later announcements cited far larger figures tied to a broader package of agreements).
- 600 MW — the power draw cited as needed for the data-and-training side, compared in the announcement to two blocks of the Nikola Tesla thermal plant.
- 50 data factories — floated for the 2026–2030 window.
Serbia could begin one of the largest investments this year and become the first European country to produce such robots.
What was not yet settled
At announcement stage several things were explicitly aspirational: the exact site, the production volume, and the timeline. Those details firmed up over the following months in statements from the finance ministry and the e-government office — and the headline investment figure was later revised upward as it was folded into a wider set of Serbia–China agreements. For readers following the story, February is the starting line, not the finish.
Why it matters for the sector
Whatever the final shape, the announcement signalled that humanoid-robot assembly — not just deployment — was being planned inside the EU's neighbourhood. For operators and buyers in the region, a nearby production base changes lead times and support logistics in a way that importing finished units from East Asia does not.
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