Today is the deadline for the Serbian government to publicly reveal whether it will use the right of first refusal and buy the Genex Tower in Novi Beograd for 2.4 billion dinars.
There are three possible scenarios of what can happen with this Belgrade landmark and it is up to the state to decide whether this facility will get a new owner or not. There is also a third option – cancelling the public auction held on February 6 this year.
Head of the Genex Tower housing association, Božidar Stavrić, points out that the Tower’s tenants took a number of steps to prevent or cancel the sale of the office space in the building (which spans about half the building’s area) and that the housing association submitted its objections to the Tower’s group of creditors.
“We appealed to the Serbian government, the Property Directorate of the Republic of Serbia, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade and the President of the Republic to cancel the sale or use the right of first refusal because even at 20 million euros, the office building is being sold below the price. If the building is sold at this price, the state and its creditors stand to lose at least 7 million euros, because the building’s value is estimated at 35 million euros,” says Stavrić.
He points out that some of the bankruptcy creditors, including former employees and tenants of the Genex Tower, requested a new evaluation of the business half of the building, and they also submitted a request to the Commercial Court for the office part of the building to be sold floor by floor.
The business part of the Genex Tower was initially offered for sale for 2 billion dinars. Since then, it was valued at 834 million dinars. The price practically fell from 17 million to around 7 million euros. In the meantime, at the last auction, the building was sold for a little more than 20.5 million euros.
To remind, Serbian beverage company Eureka Bar bought the Genex building in Belgrade. Seven bidders took part in the public auction – NR Development, Singidunum University, Zvonko Gobeljić, Tardycon Holding Limited, Samers, Exeone and Eureka Bar. This was the third attempt to sell the Genex offices.
According to the Serbian business registry, Belgrade-based Eureka Bar is wholly owned by the businessman Aleksandar Kajmaković. It was founded in February 2011. The company was declared bankrupt in 2015.
Kajmaković (age 47), a.k.a. Aca Bosanac, is a controversial businessman who was arrested in 2021 for collaborating with Veljko Belivuk, the head of a known criminal clan.
(Blic, 13.03.2023)
https://www.blic.rs/biznis/kupovina-geneks-kule/56r1gyl