Vucic: No delays in General Staff building project, no forgery of any kind

The president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has denied that there are any delays in the plans of Jared Kushner’s company for the construction of a luxury hotel in the location of the bombed General Staff complex in Belgrade.

The planned hotel within the “Trump” chain is owned by the family of Kushner’s father-in-law, the president of the United States, Donald Trump and its value is estimated at USD 500 million. It requires the demolition of the former General Staff building, which was largely damaged during the NATO bombing in 1999.

This week, however, the acting director of the Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments, Goran Vasic, was arrested due to suspicion that he has forged the documentation in order to facilitate the realization of the project for Kushner’s company, Bloomberg reminds. The Public Prosecutor’s Office said that a former chief of the state’s watchdog for preserving cultural heritage “abused his office” by faking signatures on a document, which proposed the government remove the protected status for the military building.

– There was no kind of forgery and we will discuss it with everybody – Vucic responded to a question by Bloomberg News in Tirana, where he is taking part in the European Political Community summit.

– And you know, this is what always happens – Vucic said and went on to liken the forgery allegations to those made by opponents of the riverside Belgrade Waterfront project, which has caused controversy and protests in Serbia.

– And now everybody is very proud with that project – Vucic estimated and said that some of those who had previously opposed the project were even “buying apartments that many of us were not able to do.

The president of Serbia emphasized that Kushner’s plan “is an important project for us.”

Predsedništvo Republike Srbije

president of Serbia

Aleksandar Vučić

General Staff building

Hotel Trump