With EBRD financing, Serbia will expand science and technology parks (STPs) and construct new ones in cities across the country, including Niš, Čačak, Kruševac and Belgrade (in the BIO4 Campus). A sovereign loan of €80 million and accompanying project agreements were signed in Belgrade by the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, the Minister of Finance, Siniša Mali, and the EBRD Regional Head of the Western Balkans, Matteo Colangeli, as well as directors of existing STPs.

Monia Dobrescu, Partner at Mușat & Asociații, spoke to Property Forum about real estate companies’ growing interest in alternative financing options and Romania’s tax framework for real estate investments.

The Slovak government has approved the Ministry of Economy's proposal to allocate €21 million to prepare three industrial parks in Slovakia through MH Invest.

Avison Young presented the results of the investment market in Poland for the first 5 months of 2023. The volume of closed transactions announced to the public from the beginning of this year to the end of May amounted to only around €800 million, while in 2021 and 2022 in the same period, its value amounted to over twice as much. There were no large transactions, which in the first quarter of 2022 accounted for 75% of the total volume. Many buyers are trying to take advantage of the market situation and are bidding well below property valuations, hoping to get a good deal, but owners are taking their time to sell. Avison Young experts - Paulina Brzeszkiewicz-Kuczyńska (Research and Data Manager) and Marcin Purgal (Senior Director, Investment) - expect that in the second half of this year, the commercial real estate market in Poland will be dominated by opportunistic and value-add assets in every sector.

CA Immo has successfully signed and closed the sale of the Serbian office complex Belgrade Office Park to a domestic investor. With two buildings and an underground car park, the complex comprises approx. 27,200 sqm of total lettable space. The building, which is located close to the city centre, was 97% let as of April 30, 2023, with annualized gross rental income of around €4.4 million.

By being integrated with the Catella Group, Catella Poland broadens its offering in supporting investment strategies of Polish and International clients.

Develia has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 100% of shares in Polish subsidiaries of Nexity, a French real estate development company. The price set in the preliminary agreement amounts to €100 million (approx. PLN 453 million). Develia will increase the number of units under construction by approx. 1,400 and will expand the land bank by approx. 2,200 units in Warsaw, Kraków and Poznań.

The number of foreign investors that will appear in Slovakia depends on several key factors like the stability of the country, the availability and price of labour, and the cost of utilities and only then by the real estate market’s specifications, said Martin Varačka, Partner at Space Brokers SK in an interview to the Property Forum.

The Polish advisory firm, which specializes in land and capital transactions, announced that in the second quarter of 2023, the value of its serviced investment real estate portfolio located in all key major Polish cities exceeded PLN 2 billion.

Penta Real Estate announced the finalisation of their newest land acquisition in the centre of Bratislava. The company bought a 3-ha (30,000 sqm) plot of land that is bordered by Mlynské nivy, Chalupkova and Košická streets. The seller is HB Reavis. Both parties have agreed that the amount of the transaction will not be disclosed.