Mohamed Alabbar, the founder of Emaar, is reportedly in discussions to collaborate with Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US President Donald Trump, to renovate a former Yugoslav army headquarters building in Serbia into a residential complex, as per Reuters.
When contacted by Reuters, Alabbar expressed a positive outlook on collaborating with Kushner and expressed enthusiasm about further upscale development in the market. However, he did not provide details on the nature of the partnership.
Kushner stated to Reuters last month that he was in talks regarding investing in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, to revamp the army building. However, he cautioned that the deal was still in the negotiation phase and might not materialize.
Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vucic, affirmed that discussions about a partnership were ongoing.
When asked by Reuters last month if the Belgrade project stemmed from connections Kushner established during his tenure as a Trump advisor in the White House, he denied receiving special treatment.
In March this year, The New York Times reported that Kushner was finalizing significant real estate deals in Albania and Serbia, according to Gulf Business.
The report outlined plans for a luxury tourist destination on an island off Albania’s coast and a proposed luxury hotel, 1,500 residential units, and a museum in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, at the site of the long-vacant former headquarters of the Yugoslav Army.
Kushner’s involvement would be through his investment firm, Affinity Partners, which has received $2bn in funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and other foreign investors.
Furthermore, Reuters also disclosed that Mohamed Alabbar is initiating the sale of property assets he owns in Belarus, a country facing Western sanctions, even as he collaborates with Jared Kushner on the potential investment in Serbia.
The Belarus project is currently in the preliminary agreement stage for the sale of Alabbar’s interests in a multi-billion-dollar property development in Minsk, through his Symphony Global Holdings investment vehicle.
It remains unclear who proposed to purchase Alabbar’s interests in the Minsk development or the terms of the preliminary deal.
While Minsk is not directly involved in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko has permitted Russian troops to utilize its territory. The US has imposed sanctions on Belarus for aiding Russia, prohibiting US citizens from engaging in business with Lukashenko and certain members of his circle.
Lukashenko initiated the North Waterfront project in May 2021, calling for the creation of a vast residential complex along water reservoirs in northern Minsk, and assigning a leading role to one of Alabbar’s companies.
A spokesperson for Lukashenko expressed surprise regarding Alabbar’s preliminary sale agreement, stating it was news to the president.
