Delta Holding: Under the current conditions, an investment in Sava Center is not cost-effective

The sale of Sava Centar has been canceled, as no bids were sent in response to the public invitation. Delta Holding gave up on the purchase too, because, as they say, under the current conditions, an investment in this real estate is not cost-effective.

– In the process of analysis, we had hired external experts, who concluded that an investment of nearly EUR 80 million would not be cost-effective. Unfortunately, that is the reason why we didn't respond to the tender now and under such circumstances – the company says.

Let us remind that the City of Belgrade had opened a tender for the sale of Sava Centar, at the sales price of EUR 27.42 million. The ad cited the purchaser's obligation to pay out the entire amount of the sales and purchase price and carry out construction and finishing works on the adaptation and reconstruction, the total value of which cannot be lower than EUR 50 million.

– As a socially responsible company, we care very much for Belgrade and Serbia to get a modern and functional congress center. Also, as a company one of whose main activities is hotel management, it would be in our interest to build one such center and run it – Delta says.

They add that Sava Center would be a very important contributor to the development of congress tourism and culture, but also a facility that the citizens of Belgrade and Serbia would be very proud of.

– However, as a company which operates in the market, Delta invests taking care of the interests of all interested parties: our partners, clients, employees, banks, the social community. If we can't protect that interest, we don't invest – the company says.

Previous sales attempts

Let us remind that the sale of Sava Centar was announced in November 2019.

The city first started looking for a partner in 2016, when a public invitation for the founding of a joint company opened.

A new one opened in late 2017, when the potential partner was expected to renovate the congress infrastructure of the center and its general infrastructure.

The City of Belgrade and Delta started direct negotiations in mid-2018, which proved to be unsuccessful. It was soon announced that a concessionaire would be sought for Sava Centar.