As a result of the war in Ukraine, almost all companies are dealing with completely new situations and facing unexpected problems. The experts of the first panel of Bratislava Property Forum 2022 discussed how investment strategies have to adapt to the new situation.

The end of April marks one year since the announcement of the acquisition of the Aupark Bratislava shopping centre.  The actual change in the shareholder structure took place on 27 May 2021, after the financial and investment group Wood & Company bought a stake in Aupark from Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW). The acquisition, worth a total of €450 million, has been hailed as the largest real estate transaction in Slovakia's history up to this date. The real estate fund AUP Bratislava, which was established in connection with the transaction, announced the amount of revenues for the year 2021.

In Ljubljana, a huge mixed-use project will see the creation of a new railway station, a new bus station, a hotel, a shopping centre, offices and apartments as part of the Emonika project. The public infrastructure project will be complemented by a private development by Mendota Invest, owned by Hungary’s OTP Real Estate Investment Fund. The project, which is worth nearly €500 million, was presented in Ljubljana by Sándor Csányi, CEO of OTP, Jernej Vrtovec, Slovenia’s Minister of Infrastructure, Zorán Janković, Mayor of Ljubljana, Dusan Mes, CEO of the Slovenian Railways and Janez Kozelj, Deputy Mayor of Ljubljana, Hungarian business daily Portfolio reports.

Romania’s trade relations with Ukraine, Russia and Belarus are limited, but the country has been importing raw materials from these countries that are used in the local construction market, according to an analysis by the Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association (EECFA). 

​Given that the global tech giants are primarily headquartered outside Europe, analysing the recent trends in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can help to identify which locations are proving attractive for data centre operations. Cushman & Wakefield’s latest findings confirm that the largest investment activity continues in mature tech and financial hubs in Western Europe. A key driver for activity in this group of locations is the proximity to the high economic activity of these increasingly digitised markets, writes Dimitris Vlachopoulos, Partner, Head of Portfolio & Location Strategy, EMEA for Cushman & Wakefield.

Europe’s fundamental mismatch between voracious housing demand and the limited supply is driving massive investment growth in the residential sector and will continue to generate opportunities even amid geopolitical and economic uncertainties, according to a new report by Colliers.

The impact assessment of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Slovenian construction market must take into account the current volatile situation associated with the pandemic. Even before the war in Ukraine started, building material manufacturers reduced their capacity, either due to logistics problems resulting from the global closure of countries or due to declining demand. As the last wave of the pandemic ended, supply failed to keep up with increased demand and construction material prices began to rise, writes Dr Aleš Pustovrh (Bogatin d.o.o.) for EECFA Slovenia.

People have started to return to their usual shopping destinations. That is reflected in the positive business development of SES Spar European Shopping Centers during the second year of the pandemic. Compared to 2020, significant growth was recorded in retail partner sales, visitor footfall and average spend per purchase. This positive upward trend was recorded by SES in all countries in which it operates centres. Despite the pandemic, in 2021, a total of €22 million was invested in maintenance and sustainable measures relating to the operation of the centres, as well as in project development.

In 2021, GTC recorded an adjusted EBITDA of €113 million (€105 million in 2020) with the net profit amounting to €43 million in 2021 (€71 million loss in 2020). This mainly resulted from a strong operating performance combined with lower loss from revaluation/impairment of assets by €130 million, partially offset by an increase in finance cost by €8 million and recognition of tax expenses of €14 million.

Hungary-based developer Alfa Group has decided to cancel the bond auction within the Hungarian NKP framework in Q1 due to increased interest rates. As the main reason for bond issuance was the need for a financing development pipeline, an alternative source of financing with attractive commercial terms was considered better.