Serbia approves the implementation of the UAE construction project in Belgrade

Serbian lawmakers, after heated discussions, gave the green light for the implementation of a riverbank development project in Belgrade, financed by an investor from Abu Dhabi. The developers hope to begin excavating the Belgrade embankment this year, transforming the gloomy desert on the eastern bank of the Sava River over the next 10 years into a cluster of glittering glass and metalwork worth at least € 3 billion ($ 3.25 billion).

This project is the culmination of an incredible alliance between the United Arab Emirates and Serbia represented by Alexander Vucic, whose activities span a wide spectrum from the defense industry to agriculture. The adopted law allows the expropriation of land and the issuance of building permits for the project. In accordance with plans, 1.8 million sq. M. meters of land will grow buildings for 5,700 residential apartments, 2,200 hotel rooms, offices for 12,700 people, a shopping center and an impressive 200-meter tower in the style of Dubai.

The project marks the first trip to Central and Eastern Europe by UAE real estate tycoon Mohamed Alabbar and Abu Dhabi Eagle Hills. This will create a foothold for the UAE to enter the largest single market of the EU in the next decade, as well as an opportunity to avoid tough rules on public procurement of EU member states, which can be more easily circumvented in Serbia.
Opponents in Serbia, however, say the riverbank project is fraught with risks.

"This law deprives Serbian citizens of their dignity," said opposition Democratic Party MP Balo Bozovic. At the same time, Vucic, proposing a bill to parliament, said: "Great cities are built on big dreams. I did not expect such resistance to modernization, progress and something beautiful, for which we did not have the money, but now we have them." ... Vucic compared the opposition's actions to what the architects of the Eiffel Tower faced in Paris.