Mohamed Alabar has no intention of investing 35 billion in the Velika Plaza project, as claimed by Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.
"The specific amount you are referring to does not correspond to the investment we are considering," Alabar replied. Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) when asked how such a large investment in Ulcinj is possible. It is possible, however, Alabar added, that the sum of 35 billion reflects the broader economic impact of the project.
He entered Montenegro through the back door - through a tender for beach leases, only to be presented overnight as an investor who, according to Spajić, will invest between 20 and 30 billion in the south of our country, eventually increasing that sum to an incredible 35 billion.
It is not known what Spajić based his calculations on. No project is publicly available, if you don't count the hazy electronic animation.
The fact that this could be an exaggeration is also supported by the fact that total foreign direct investment in the country, from independence in 2006 to the end of 2024, amounts to 14 billion euros, while investments in the "Luštica Bay", "Porto Montenegro" and "Portonovi" projects have so far barely reached two billion.
The Prime Minister's Office did not respond to CIN-CG's multiple questions regarding concerns about this project.
"My interest in Montenegro began when I was a tourist, a visitor - I was attracted by its beautiful coastline, rich culture and exceptional architecture. I believe that Montenegro has extraordinary potential, and any project here must first and foremost serve the community - for the people, by the people. We are currently awaiting guidance from local authorities, the community and the government, in order to better understand their wishes and how we can meaningfully contribute," Alabar told CIN-CG.
Spajić intends to transfer valuable state land for construction to Alabaru for free, without a tender or public debate, bypassing the current spatial plans, the state development strategy, as well as the principles of environmental preservation and biodiversity of this unique, largely untouched area.
The ruling majority, and possibly part of the opposition, intends to legalize all of this in one move: with the Law on Ratification of the Agreement between the Government of Montenegro and the Government of the United Arab Emirates on Cooperation in the Field of Tourism and Real Estate Development, which would take precedence over domestic legislation, but also over the obligations that Montenegro has assumed under the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union. The opposition, some parties in the Government, the local government in Ulcinj, part of the civil sector have already reacted to this, but the Competition Protection Agency has also announced that it will investigate whether the rules are being violated.
In addition to 20 million square meters of Velika Plaza, the Prime Minister has mentioned in recent days that he could offer investors from the UAE other valuable locations, pearls such as Buljarica, Jaz, and the Herceg Novi part of Luštica.
Suspicions of fraud in India and legal proceedings
What kind of projects is businessman Mohamed Alabar from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) involved in?
It is true that Mohamed Alabar, an investor from the UAE, is the founder of the company “Emaar Properties”, which built the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, as well as the world's largest shopping mall, the Dubai Mall. His wealth is estimated at 2,3 billion and he is in 20th place on the Forbes list of the richest Arabs.
Among the most significant shareholders of “Emaar Properties” are the ruler of Dubai - Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum and the state fund of this country - the Investment Corporation of “Dubai”. Alabar is also the owner of the company “Eagle Hills”. According to the official website and the words of Alabar himself during his public appearance in Tivat, on April 10, “Eagle Hills” operates in 18 countries in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe.
Alabar was also Al Maktoum's economic advisor for a long time, which further indicates his closeness to the Dubai royal family.
Our officials announce Alabara as a credible investor who will contribute to the development of Montenegro, but this businessman's business around the world raises concerns. Belgrade on the water, a project in Durres, several investment projects in Asia - all of this, according to several media outlets, was accompanied by numerous problems, controversies and suspicions of corruption, as well as hearings and lawsuits.
According to several media outlets in India, including “The New Indian Express”, "Economic Times”, “The Hindu” and others, in February 2025, in one of the Indian states of Telangana, state authorities formed a legal commission to resolve numerous disputes that had arisen during the 20 years of “Emaar” operations in that Indian state.
Emaar has also had business problems in other locations in India.
They still exist in that country. case studies which was launched by the Central Bureau of Investigation of India back in 2011, and concerns the business of "Emaar" in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where there are suspicions of corrupt dealings between "Emaar" and the then leaders of the state.
Police are also in Delhi territory, according to media reports, including “Times of India"I"Bussines Standard India", questioned Alabara in 2023 on suspicion that his company "Emaar India" had defrauded apartment buyers in the "Palm Garden" complex. The complaint, as reported, was filed against Alabara and others involved in these affairs by several apartment buyers. The complaint, as reported by local media, states that the project was launched in 2010, that it was supposed to be completed by 2015, which did not happen, and the buyers suffered damage. Alabara was accused of collecting money from buyers and diverting it to other purposes, which led to delays in the work.
The Hungarian portal 444.hu, which has been investigating Alabbar's business around the world, recently reported that the company "Emaar", more than a decade ago, had a controversial deal in the Indian city of Mohali, in the state of Punjab, during the implementation of a project to build 1670 villas. Allegedly, "Emaar" sold land in India that did not belong to it, in order to get money for investments. According to reports from this media, the buyers of more than 560 villas sold were unable to move in because the land was owned by others. "Daily Post India" published information about this event in 2011.
Alabar confirms to CIN-CG that "there have been some disputes in India, but most of them have been resolved in the meantime."
“In India, we were part of a partnership that unfortunately did not meet the quality standards that we believe our customers deserve. As a result, we made the decision to end the partnership in order to maintain oversight of the project’s development. This decision did lead to delays, but it was necessary to ensure that the units we were building were delivered at the level of excellence that our customers rightly expect,” Alabar explained to CIN-CG.
In Pakistan, too, according to the Hungarian 444.hu, Alabar's company was supposed to build luxury villas and apartments by 2013. This project, according to the 444.hu portal, was also marred by problems, with 300 local investors suing the company, demanding their money back. "We are not aware of any similar cases in Pakistan," Alabar says.
Luxury complex in Durres
After lengthy negotiations, in early 2023, the Albanian government signed a contract with Alabar's company, Eagle Hills Real Estate Development, to build a luxury complex, Durres Yachts & Marina, on the site of the strategically important port of Durres. Not only did Alabar receive one of the most valuable locations in the country for free, but Albania also pledged to finance the relocation of the port and the construction of a new one at a different location from the state coffers, according to several local media outlets, including BIRN, "Voxnews Albania"I"Tirana Times".
The port's relocation, according to some estimates, could cost Albania over a billion euros, and it will take years for it to become operational, which could cause additional damage to the Albanian economy.
The relocation of the state-owned port of Durres, one of the largest and most important on the Adriatic Sea, has sparked outrage from representatives of the European Union, which has invested millions of euros through aid and loan instruments in this facility of invaluable transport and strategic importance, not only for Albania, but also for Europe and NATO.
In return, Alabar promised the Albanians two and a half billion in investments, the construction of a luxury tourist center with a yacht marina, hotels, apartments, and service industries.
When entering a country, Alabar usually cooperates directly with the top people in power. Thus, the government of Edi Rama not only gave a big job to “Eagle Hills”, but the prime minister also personally joined the campaign. The opposition criticized Rama for openly advertising the project and convincing those who have money to invest, to pay in advance and in fact to lend money to Alabar and those who are allegedly hiding behind it. The state has about 33 percent of ownership in the entire project, according to local media.
As could happen here, Alabar entered Albania according to a well-established scheme - without a tender, based on an international agreement between Albania and the UAE.
Representatives of the Albanian opposition have twice filed appeals with the Constitutional Court, seeking the annulment of the contract that enabled the project to be implemented. However, the Constitutional Court rejected these constitutional appeals first in 2023 and then in February 2025, stating that there were no grounds for annulling the law on the contract between the Albanian Government and Alabar's company.
“The Durres marina project, a joint venture with the Albanian government, is progressing steadily. Key infrastructure, beach development and several facilities are in advanced stages, while others are actively under construction,” Alabar told CIN-CG, denying local media reports that contracts are being broken and apartment buyers are being misled. “All allegations of mislead- ing buyers or breach of contract are completely unfounded,” the investor stressed.
The project in Albania operates on the principle of minimal investment and risk for the investor, while the state, in addition to the strategic location that it is actually giving away, assumes additional costs.
“The new port will cost Albanians at least 1,5 billion euros, and these euros do not come from Alabar’s profits, but from our pockets. Rama’s plan is an economic and social disgrace: the current port of Durres, the most valuable asset in Albania, is being taken by his friend, while the new port is being built with money from Albanian taxpayers. Alabar will further enrich himself with the property donated to him by Edi Rama, and Rama will get his share… The only thing an average Albanian will be able to do in a country that was once everyone’s property is to eat ice cream and look at the windows of expensive stores,” said Eno Bozdo, a member of the presidency of the opposition Democratic Party, in July 2024, after announcing the tender for the construction of the new state-owned port.
Elaborate scheme
Business register data from several countries show that the Dubai-based company “Eagle Hills” uses this name in other countries, where it forms separate companies, under a similar name, that operate independently. These companies do not use capital from Dubai, but raise money based on the benefits received in the countries where they operate - attractive land, favorable loans, money from buyers who pay in advance, often encouraged by the campaign of local powerful people and authorities. So, these are companies without capital and previous business history, so-called “shell companies”, which raise capital for projects with the help of the authorities of the countries in which they build.
“Eagle Hills Montenegro” is also without a history. The company was registered in the Central Register of Business Entities of Montenegro (CRPS) on March 6, 2025, and immediately responded to the tender of the Coastal State Administration for the lease of Ulcinj beaches with a dizzying offer. According to CRPS data, the owner of this company is the company “Jaona Investments” from the UAE, which is also the owner of “Eagle Hills” in Croatia, which owns hotels in that country.
According to CRPS, the founder of “Eagle Hills Montenegro” is Hisham Mohamed Ibrahim Soliman, who is also the director of “Eagle Hills Properties” in Serbia, which is building the controversial Belgrade Waterfront project. Soliman also manages “Eagle Hills Real Estate Development SH.PK” in Albania, which is building “Durres Yacht & Marina”.
An opposition member in Albania, Agron Shehaj, warned that the “Eagle Hills” registered in Albania is not registered with the company of the same name in Dubai, and that it does not have capital or information about the ultimate owner and, as he claims, represents a typical structure for money laundering and corruption. There are also suspicions that local powerful people have a hidden stake in these projects.
A Montenegrin investment expert, who wished to remain anonymous, explains to CIN-CG that the land that has been handed over for 90 years can also serve as a mortgage for the investor for loans to finance the project. “My assumption is that banks operating in Montenegro would be happy to finance such a project from deposits, which are currently large. The project requires very little capital from the investor himself, and it will be profitable for both the banks and the investor, but not for the state,” this source explains to CIN-CG.
According to this expert, the business model that invests exclusively from other people's money is legitimate, and very favorable for the investor. "The fool is the one who allows it," he explains. This expert estimates that the land alone, about 20 million square meters of Velika Plaza, is worth billions. To give something like that away, without a precise plan and tender, is in itself a huge loss for the state.
This expert tells CIN-CG that Spajić's claims that there is no sale of the land, that it remains state-owned, are cynical. "This is classic manipulation. Once a building is built, what can the state do with the land underneath it and whose land does it belong to?"
Projects cancelled in Hungary and Croatia
Alabar was on his way to get attractive locations in some EU countries for free. His projects were supported by Hungarian President Viktor Orban and the late Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić. Both projects, in Budapest and Zagreb, were stopped, however, because they met with great opposition from citizens and the opposition, who did not like the scheme of giving away valuable locations for nothing, in a non-transparent manner, without a tender, for the megalomaniacal cementing of valuable parts of these old Central European capitals.
The 85-hectare reconstruction project around the railway in Budapest has been pompously named “Grand Budapest”. President Orban has also called it “Maxi Dubai”, and has announced the construction of the tallest building in Budapest. Residents of that part of the city have been told that they must urgently move out, but no one has offered them any help with the move, according to “Balkan Insight”.
The plan was officially suspended in early 2025, due to several factors, most notably resistance from citizens and the opposition mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karacsony. Alabar eventually withdrew.
For the “Zagreb City” project, Alabar's company was to be given 110 hectares of the Zagreb Fairgrounds, the Hippodrome, and the field of the “Lokomotiva” football club. It was envisaged that the city of Zagreb would have a minority stake in the company with “Eagle Hills”, registered in Croatia.
Despite numerous protests and public outcry, the project was only abandoned when Bandić passed away, in 2021.
However, last year, Alabar took over 100 percent ownership of the Croatian company "Sunce Hotels", which has 13 popular hotels under the "Bluesun Hotels & Resorts" brand, as well as ownership of 50 percent of the airport on Brač.
In 2021, when Alabar began taking over this company, “Nacional” reported that Croatian banks were investigating the origin of the money due to assumptions that the transactions were attempted to be made through the accounts of companies involved in the construction of Belgrade on the water. This raised suspicions that Alabar was just a front for non-transparent Serbian capital that was also being laundered in Croatia. However, CIN-CG was unable to confirm these allegations on the Croatian side.
Albar himself claims that in this, as in all other cases, his company acted strictly within the law. “Eagle Hills fully complies with all financial, legal and regulatory standards in every country in which it operates, and this commitment is not subject to compromise. The allegations mentioned do not reflect the reality of our practices or our values,” he said.
Belgrade on the water - state capital at a bargain price
"For the construction of Belgrade on the water, the state donated 177 hectares of the best construction site in the Balkans, which in 2014 was worth between 5,3 billion and 8,8 billion on the market, and to date, as a minority shareholder, it has received less than 10 million euros in dividends from that project," said Milan Ćulibrk, editor of "Radar" magazine, during a recent appearance on the show Načisto on Television Vijesti.
Ćulibrk also vividly explained how much Serbia benefits from "Vučić's project of the century." One apartment in Belgrade on the water in 2023 was sold for 2,6 million euros. "So, the state received less than four apartments. That is a picture of the national benefit. Every resident of Serbia received one and a half euros," said Ćulibrk.
He reminded that another harmful decision by Aleksandar Vučić is currently being implemented in Serbia, by which the state is ceding an additional 320 hectares for the second part of Belgrade on the water, worth 20 billion, which, as Ćulibrk claims, will be Vučić's gift to Alabar's company.
How questionable contracts with companies from the UAE can be is shown by the fact that in the case of Belgrade on the Water, the land under the building on which it is being built belongs neither to the state nor even to the tenants, but to the Belgrade on the Water company, in which the company formally backed by the Arabs has about 68 percent of the stake, and the Serbian Government about 32 percent.
The costs for the citizens of Serbia, in addition to the lost land, are enormous: the relocation of the train and bus stations, the demolition of buildings in Savamala, the loss of the "Bristol" hotel, the planned relocation of the fair... All this to realize a private project from which only individuals benefit.
Alabar has also recently signed contracts for grandiose projects in Riga, Latvia, and construction at two locations in Georgia. In Riga, it will be given a waterfront for the “Riga Waterfront” project, while in the Georgian port of Batumi, it will be given a waterfront and space for the construction of a luxury marina, as well as 200 square meters of green space in Tbilisi.
Alabar was the star of the rally in Tivat on April 10. He said he would respect the local community and its wishes if he built in Montenegro. He also promised social housing, like in Egypt. “Why don’t we do things properly, why don’t we listen to the people, listen to the communities and their needs,” the builder wondered.
However, in Belgrade, he did not listen to the citizens. In April 2016, a group of masked men violently demolished buildings in Savamala and were violent towards citizens who opposed the demolition. The police did not intervene. Alabar continued construction.
The project, which is now being promoted by the current Montenegrin Prime Minister, seems to have been designed by Milo Đukanović. The honorary president of the DPS was quick to praise the cooperation with the UAE, emphasizing his closeness to the royal family. It remains to be seen whether his party will have the strength to distance itself from the plan related to Velika Plaža in parliament.
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