Executive Summary

• Belgrade Waterfront is a large construction project that aims to build a series of commercial and residential buildings eastern bank of the Sava river;
• The development of the project is entrusted to Belgrade Waterfront LLC, owned by Eagle Hills company from Abu Dhabi;
• The development of the project involves private actors such as Eagle Hills and Emaar Properties as well as public actors such as the Government of Serbia and Belgrade City Hall (directly) and UAE (indirectly by supporting politically the private UAE companies);
• Serbian Government was the initial owner of the Belgrade Waterfront LLC, commissioning also 95% of the needed lands to the company. The Government yielded 68% shares to Eagle Hills for a EUR 130 Million loan and promise of future investment in major infrastructure projects, which is considered by experts a poor economic deal for the Serbian Government;
• EBRD considered initially a potential engagement with the project but dropped their intentions in the process, allegedly for lack of transparency regarding the funding of the project and possible political connections;
• Beyond the economic issues, the project registered a series of architectural problems, so due to poor quality of design and implementation of some of the buildings constructed are already running the risk of being flooded by the Sava river.