The awarded investigation published by BIRN reveals the true nature of the economic relationships between Serbia and Georgia, two EU candidate countries, and China, Russia and the European Union.
“Follow the Money: Why the EU, Not China, Matters Most to Serbia and Georgia” examines trade and investment flows between these countries from 2013 to 2023 and is based on official data from banking reports and national statistical offices.
Curic and Tsaava’s economic perspective through data dismantles widespread narratives and demonstrate the central role of the European Union in the economic balance of countries like Serbia and Georgia.
This is despite persistent narratives promoted by governments and pro-government media emphasising Chinese investments and shaping public opinion in ways not supported by the data, stated Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli.
“Working on this story was a great experience for me personally because I love data and following financial flows, and in this case, there was an official open data, which is actually rarely happening in our countries,” Curic said.
“We were analysing export and import data and the amount of investments coming from our targets – the EU, China and Russia – and towards them, and we could access and analyse official data on these lines.
“The trickiest financial line that we also had in mind, in order to analyse all money flows through official channels, was public debt; because of its complexity and methodology, it wasn’t easy to break data based on analysed countries and analysed period, so it was left out due to the impossibility to be fully precise,” Curic added.
The international jury, composed of journalists and writers Marzio G. Mian, Fausto Biloslavo, Caterina Croce, and Teresa O’Connell, reviewed more than 60 journalistic investigations submitted from across Europe.
“We are very happy being awarded the Border Stories Prize because this investigation was super important for us and everything that we’ve done as part of Spheres of Influence project. We are really grateful to the jury for recognising the international importance of this story that dismantles the stereotypes about Chinese and Russian influence in Serbia and Georgia that were developed with public officials’ narratives,” Curic said.
“It also shows the absolute economic dominance of the EU. For me, personally, it was a great achievement because it shows the power of data journalism in such a wide and at the same time very concrete field, under the phrase ‘follow the money’ and confronts with facts the perception of our countries, especially on the international level,” she concluded.
The awards were presented during the final event in the travelling series Stories of the Border / Border Stories. The meeting, dedicated to presenting investigations awarded in the international journalism prize of the same name, is promoted by Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Sport of Italy’s Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and GECT GO / EZTS GO, with the support of Are We Europe.