Lukashenko gives $1 billion worth of real estate in Minsk to Serbian family

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko transferred land in the capital Minsk to construction companies linked to the counter-versus Serbian Karic family, a recent investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Control Project (OCCRP) has revealed.

The investigation revealed that Zomex Investment, a company linked to the Karic family, and two affiliated companies, Dana Astra and Belinte Robe, were given more than 400 hectares of land in the Belarusian capital with a value of about $1 billion. Real estate registry records examined by OCCRP reporters show that the three companies have at least 11 ongoing projects in and around Minsk, making them the largest developers in the city.

According to'. 'OCCRP, construction has become "one of the most profitable businesses in Belarus" and over the past decade has become the domain of private enterprises rather than state-owned companies. In particular, the investigation says, "most of the benefits of this boom have gone to just three companies: Zomex Investment, Dana Astra and Belinte Robe."

Till the end of 2020, these three companies were owned by Cyprus-registered Dana Holdings, which until recently was owned by Nebojša Karic, son of businessman and former presidential candidate Bogoljub Karic. However, a few days before Dana Holdings was blacklisted by the EU in December 2020, the holding company was removed from the ownership of the three real estate development firms and replaced by a United Arab Emirates-registered''Bogoljub' because of his promises to restore Serbian production, citing Serbian product as an example.

• Example 1: BK Group was founded in Serbia in the 1990s, when the country was under the control of the late dictator Slobodan Milosevic.
• Example 2: Dana Astra was awarded 300 hectares of land - the most in Belarus - by presidential decree in 2014 to develop the Minsk Mir mixed-use complex, which was to include the construction of an international financial''center for attracting foreign investors to Belarus.

The OCCRP investigation also revealed that Zomex has failed to realize the big plans of several major projects. Many projects "follow the same script - promises and generous government support for ambitious plans that never materialize. Despite the companies' repeated failures to realize the commissioned projects, they still get contracts. "