President Alexander Lukashenko, on meeting Bogoljub Kariс — the co-owner of the international Braca Karic company, and a Serbian MP and the Honorary Consul of Belarus in Belgrade — Dragomir Karic, remarked that he understands that the company is a success in Belarus. “There are no major problems: no problems at all. You implement projects and fulfil your promises,” he said. The project to build the Minsk-Mir centre is of special importance. “We cannot fail to implement this project. I hope that it will prove substantial,” the President stressed.
Minsk-Mir development layout
“It would be great if all former Yugoslavian republics are involved in the project. I will welcome it,” Mr. Lukashenko said. The experience of Serbia and other former Yugoslavian states will benefit the project. “Yugoslavia was an advanced state and I believe that it suffered due to the fact that it found it too difficult to compete. It is now ambitious and nationally oriented, since the arrival of Josip Broz Tito,” he added.
The Minsk-Mir project should become an historical landmark. With this in mind, we should not protract its implementation. According to the Head of State, Belarus will do its utmost to lift all obstacles, using additional reserves as necessary. “This project should be a success. Let it be an example of co-operation to the whole Slavonic world,” Mr. Lukashenko concluded.
During the meeting, Bogoljub Kariс noted plans to build an international finance centre at Minsk-Mir. The Serbian businessman is confident that the project will benefit from Belarus’ favourable position in relation to the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union.
By Vladimir Vetrov
Minsk-Mir named best property project
Multi-purpose Minsk-Mir complex wins prestigious Global RLI Awards 2015 in Dubai
The 10th jubilee edition of the Global RLI Awards gathered around 600 representatives of the world’s largest real estate development and investment companies. Dana Holdings presented its Minsk-Mir project, under the ‘Best Large-Scale Future Project’ nomination.
Gary Burrows, the Head of the Property and Shopping Malls Division at Dana Holdings, says that the project aroused much interest among jury members, who were judging 30 nominees for the main prize. Minsk-Mir was named best in Europe and fourth best worldwide, surpassed only by a world-famous company from Qatar and two Chinese real estate developers.
“Belarus enjoyed much attention at the exhibition, with many participants asking about our investment climate,” Mr. Burrows notes. He believes that there is great potential for foreign investment into Belarus’ commercial property, if legislative conflict can be resolved. In Belarus, a real estate development company can only conclude agreements after a building has been commissioned and given a registered address. Meanwhile, the process begins in Europe at the designing stage, which helps real estate developers take into account the preferences of those planning to lease. “Otherwise, certain risks arise, and investors don’t like risks,” Mr. Burrows explains.
Construction at the Minsk-Mir complex is scheduled to begin in autumn 2015, with preparatory work already underway. Dana Holdings (Switzerland) is an international investment and civil engineering group of companies that has been operating in Belarus since 2006. It is one of the country’s largest property developers and is widely recognised across the post-Soviet space. It began construction projects in the 1980s, during Soviet days, and later implemented a number of major projects across such CIS states as Russia, Belarus and Turkmenistan. In Belarus, Dana Holdings is building multifunctional complexes: Mayak Minska (Minsk Lighthouse), Minsk-Mir, Vivaldi, Chaikovsky, Rakhmaninov and others.
By Vasyly Voloshin
