Based on the announcements on N1 Slovenia, the police are investigating "the possible existence of reasons to suspect the commission of a criminal offense" in the sale of slightly less than a hectare of land, which was purchased from the Ljubljana municipality last year by Serbian businessman Nikola Petrović, N1 writes.
He belongs to the inner circle of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, has contacts with people from organized crime groups and is personally acquainted with the mayor of Ljubljana, with whom he meets occasionally, the media outlet reports.
The General Directorate of the Police of Slovenia confirmed that, based on the N1 Slovenia reports, the police are "checking the possible existence of reasons to suspect the commission of a criminal act, the perpetrator of which is being prosecuted ex officio. If this suspicion is confirmed, the necessary measures will be taken in the pre-investigation procedure," writes N1 Slovenia.
These are the posts on N1 Slovenia two weeks ago, in which they revealed details of how Serbian businessman Nikola Petrović, who belongs to the inner circle of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and with whom Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković occasionally meets, last year, through his Ljubljana company NG Projekt, purchased almost a hectare of land in the Trnovo suburb, also known as Ljubljana's Siberia, from the City of Ljubljana as the only bidder at an auction, writes N1 Slovenia.
Petrović's NG Projekt was registered in the court register two weeks before the Ljubljana municipality publicly announced that it would auction off three plots of land totaling 9.243 square meters in the Trnovo suburbs. NG Projekt was the only bidder at the auction and purchased the land at a starting price of 2,68 million euros, which, including VAT, amounted to 3,3 million euros, N1 Slovenia adds.
Suspicious outcome of traffic accident in Belgrade and acquaintances from Brdnikova in Ljubljana
It is not known whether the establishment of NG Projekt just before the auction announcement was a coincidence or whether the buyer knew in advance that these city lands would be auctioned.
However, the Ljubljana municipality sold the same plots in 2021 and 2022, but the starting price was almost 4,2 million euros. Last year, when Petrović was the only bidder to buy them, the starting price based on the valuation report was almost XNUMX million euros lower.
That this is true was confirmed by Ljubljana Mayor Janković at one of his press conferences. He said that in 2021 and 2022, there were no buyers for those plots. He added that neighbors were selling the land for as much as 270 euros per square meter, but later agreed to set the same price as the municipality, and they received 290 euros per square meter. Why Petrović was the only bidder at the auction, Janković said, should be asked by others, writes N1 Slovenia.
The land buyer has contacts with people from organized crime groups.
The Ljubljana mayor knows Nikola Petrović personally. During Janković's current term, since the end of 2022, they have met at least four times, each time outside the premises of the Ljubljana City Municipality, writes N1 Slovenia.
Nikola Petrović is not only the most famous godfather of Serbian President Vučić, who is on good terms with the mayor of Ljubljana, but, as detailed on N1 Slovenia, he also has private and business contacts with people from organized crime groups and with people very close to those groups, the N1 Slovenia text adds.
Contacts with persons under US sanctions
Among them, for example, is Zvonko Veselinović, a Kosovo Serb, who was sanctioned by the United States in 2021 for allegedly leading an organized crime group involved in large-scale bribery of Kosovo and Serbian security officials, as well as in illegal drug and arms trafficking. Several years ago, Petrović sold a stake in one of his Serbian companies to Veselinović's wife.
Petrović also knows Milan Radoičić, known as the “Kosovo Pablo Escobar,” who is also on the US sanctions list and who organized an armed attack on Serbs in Banjska in northern Kosovo in September 2023. The attack killed one Kosovo police officer and three Serbian attackers, and injured several people.
Petrović, Veselinović and Radoičić are also the closest neighbors in Dedinje. According to the latest discoveries by the Serbian portal BIRN this week, underground construction work is currently underway beneath their villas in this elite Belgrade neighborhood.
Owl activities interested KNOVS members
In addition to contacts with underworld figures, the media has in the past linked Petrović to business through offshore companies. According to the latest publicly available financial reports of Petrović's official companies in Serbia, in which he is the sole or majority owner, it is not possible to determine where the money he used to pay for the land in Ljubljana, which is not mortgaged, came from. It is not yet known whether the Anti-Money Laundering Office is seeking an answer to this question.
Last week, the parliamentary committee for the oversight of security and intelligence services (KNOVS) met, at which the director of the SOVA, Joško Kadivnik, and his deputy explained what activities the agency is undertaking when it comes to "foreign influences on the economic security and sovereignty of Slovenia." So, including in cases of foreign investments and their actors that could be problematic from a national security perspective.
As previously reported, according to information from N1 Slovenia, the session "focused on Serbia". Details from the closed session of the KNOVS are not known to the public. However, according to unofficial assessments by some members of the commission, that the activities of Sova are "convincing", it can be concluded that the agency is also paying attention to, among other things, foreign actors involved in last year's purchase of land in the suburbs of Trnovo.
Bonus video:
