Kushner scraps Trump Tower Belgrade after officials indicted
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The decision caps months of controversy over a Trump-branded luxury hotel on the ruins of a former government building in BelgradeAuthor of the article:You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Jared Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, dropped its plans for a hotel in Serbia, after tensions around the project culminated in the indictment of a government official who helped clear a path for its development.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.The decision caps months of controversy over Affinity’s bid to construct a Trump-branded luxury hotel on the ruins of a former government building in Belgrade. Serbia’s minister of culture, Nikola Selakovic, and three others were indicted Monday, according to a statement by the public prosecutor’s office.“Our vision for the Belgrade project was to offer an elegant, uplifting design that honored Serbia’s progress,” an Affinity spokesperson said in a separate statement. “Because meaningful projects should unite rather than divide, and out of respect for the people of Serbia and the City of Belgrade, we are withdrawing our application and stepping aside at this time.”Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againInterested in more newsletters? Browse here.Kushner, who’s married to U.S.
President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, is emerging in some of the most high-profile diplomatic negotiations and private business deals of his father-in-law’s second term.An adviser to Trump in his first term, Kushner said he wouldn’t rejoin his administration if he were reelected. But the 44-year-old has joined diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff in peace negotiations over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine as his firm participates in major deals in the private sphere.Affinity is backing Paramount Skydance Corp.’s US$108 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros., and the private equity firm was also part of the US$55 billion buyout of video game company Electronic Arts.Before its involvement in those deals, Affinity had been working on Trump Tower Belgrade, an estimated US$500 million development that would have been built on a site of historical significance: the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, which was destroyed in a 1999 NATO bombing that helped to drive Serb forces out of Kosovo.The ruins of the building had been untouched for years in Serbia’s capital.Waves of protesters took to the streets of Belgrade against the project, which had been backed by President Aleksandar Vucic. That put strain on Vucic, who’s also grappled with mass protests for over a year related to corruption, so far withstanding pressure to call a snap election or resign.“We’ve lost an exceptional investment of at least 750 million euros,” (US$882 million) Vucic told reporters in Belgrade on Tuesday, denouncing the criminal proceedings against Selakovic and the other officials as politically-motivated. He accused the prosecutors of siding with opposition activists, seeking to “destroy Serbia and leave it without investors.”“The damage inflicted to Serbia is enormous,” Vucic added, pledging judicial reforms that would restore control over the prosecutor’s office that now “answers only to itself.” The president said he would then “personally” initiate criminal cases against prosecutors he claims have gone rogue.The hotel hit an additional snag with the indictment.Prosecutors allege that Selakovic and three other officials committed criminal offenses of undue influence and “falsification of an official document,” used to lift the protected status for the planned site for the hotel. Serbia’s Ministry of Culture didn’t respond to a request for comment.Selakovic said he’s “looking forward” to a trial, as he wants to fight the allegations “because the real target is Vucic, not me,” the minister said in comments aired by local Informer TV.The others indicted individuals included Secretary of the Culture Ministry Slavica Jelaca, Acting Director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments Goran Vasic and Acting Director of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade Aleksandar Ivanovic.Even as the Belgrade hotel fizzles, the Trump family has other real estate projects lined up in the Balkan region.Affinity has planned a luxury resort on an island off the coast of Albania, where the government set up a state-owned company to take a stake in the resort. In Romania, a luxury real estate developer intends to license the Trump brand for a Trump Tower Bucharest.The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on the Serbia hotel plans being dropped.With assistance from Patrick Donahue, Jan Bratanic and Maxim EdwardsBloomberg.comPostmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.