The Serbian government has established a joint venture with Jared Kushner's property development firm, Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, to redevelop the site of the Serbian armed forces headquarters in Belgrade, which was bombed by Nato in 1999. According to leaked documents published by Serbian news magazine Radar, the agreement gives Kushner's company a 77.5% stake and the Serbian government a 22.5% stake.
The deal, signed in February 2024 but kept secret, became a flashpoint after Serbia's national assembly passed a special law fast-tracking the project as a 'project of importance for the Republic of Serbia'. The law allows the government to bypass regulatory controls that had halted progress in May amid an investigation into alleged forgery of documents removing the site's protected cultural status.
Under the agreement, Serbia must remove the cultural designation and complete demolition of existing buildings by May next year, in a manner satisfactory to Kushner's firm. If Serbia fails, the US company can terminate the contract and demand substantial termination costs. The deal provides for a 99-year free lease, with an option to convert to full ownership.
The project, planned to include a hotel, apartments, and a museum, has provoked protests in Belgrade. Demonstrators formed a human chain and painted a red line around the complex to stall the sell-off. The site holds historic significance as a Nato bombing target and protected status as the only work in Belgrade of modernist architect Nikola Dobrović.
The special law comes as Serbia's government seeks favour with the Trump administration after US sanctions on the country's national oil company NIS, due to Russian ownership. The sanctions have cut crude oil supplies, with refineries expected to run out by month's end. Meanwhile, the government has threatened to shut down independent media, drawing a rebuke from the European Commission.
