At the Balkan Real Estate Conference, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia (Balrec), Slobodanka Prekajski of the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency (BEOLAND) said that the Serbian capital city wanted to "catch up with the future".

Towards the end of 2006, Serbia adopted a new constitution. This enabled the start of the restitution process and privatisation of land.

Bureaucracy was a big problem, Prekajski said.

He said that Belgrade had a beautiful setting on the banks of two rivers, the Danube and the Sava. The city, which had a population of about two million people and a city budget of 550 million euro, had a government that was modern and "very open-minded’"

Belgrade’s master plan was adopted in 2003. Three hundred detailed zoning plans were produced afterwards, and the master plan was undergoing changes.

He said that Belgrade remained the Eastern European city with the best road and rail road connections. New ports and marinas were about to be developed on the Danube riverbank.

The New Belgrade, built in the 1950s had seen rapid development in the past 10 years. Developments covering a total of about 10 million sq m are to be built.

Prekajski introduced some of the largest projects: Dortsol, a mixed use park with business, retail, amusement and entertainment facilities; Kosantsivtsvec Venec, an office and residential development, and new bridges, and a new cargo port on the Danube waterfront. The number of new flats planned for completion by 2021 is 75 000.

The land ownership issue was a very serious hindrance to the property market development in Serbia. Land is divided to several categories: public construction land (state owned); land with right of use; another form of ownership is leasing unbuilt land for construction for 99 years; this land is in the focus of investors; ownership of agricultural sites; an investor can buy agricultural land in the hope of changing its purpose in future to use it for construction.

A building site in Belgrade can be acquired in various ways, including through real estate agencies or the State Privatisation Agency; the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency is in charge of plots larger than 800 sq m that can be leased for 99 years; the municipality is in charge of leasable plots that are less than 800 sq m. There are nominal monthly leasing fees.