What is to be built on over 250 ha near Dobanovci? – Chinese Minth enters ownership of land planned for construction of Singidunum megacomplex

The Greek Lamda Development has announced the completion of the sale of the parcel in Belgrade at a price of EUR 36 million, and the purchaser, eKapija learns, is partially owned by the Chinese company Minth Holdings Limited.

The company has announced that the public notary act of its dependent company Singidunum Buildings doo and the Serbian company Spark Investment doo, for the sale of land of a total of 2.7 million m2, of which around 1.4 million m2 is undeveloped land (green/municipal areas, road network, land parcels), was signed yesterday.

Spark Investment, according to the data of the Serbian Business Registers Agency, is owned by the Chinese Minth Holdings Limited (20%) and the Swiss investment fund Spectrum Equity Partners AG (80%),

The sales price amounted to EUR 36 million in cash, which is equal to the net book value of the property as of June 30, 2024, Lamda Development announced. A part of the price, around EUR 6.8 million will be put into the full repayment of the debts of the company Singidunum Buildings.

Said transaction is part of the company’s existing strategy, which aims to focus the company’s activities in Greece, the announcement says.

Lamda has not disclosed the exact location of the sold land, but it is known that Singidunum Buildings has planned the construction of the Singidunum megacomplex near Dobanovci.

The project designed as a city-within-a-city on around 250 hectares, with 2,800 apartments and a business park for advanced technology, was made current at the beginning of this year, when it was put up for public inspection five years after the early public inspection.

The Chinese Minth, on the other hand, which mostly produces car parts, already has production facilities in Serbia, in Loznica and Sabac, and in July, the Government of Serbia adopted the Decision on adopting the text of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of Serbia and Minth Holdings Limited, to the end of establishing a new production facility in Serbia.

The plan is to invest EUR 870 million and employ 2,220 over the ten-year investment period. This investment project, as announced at the time, encompasses the establishment of new facilities for various purposes: for automotive and related industries, for the production of electric vehicles and bicycles, for the production of photovoltaic components and building materials, as well as to the end of forming a chain of suppliers in certain fields in the location in Indija.

Recently, Minth Automotive Europe, whose seat is in Loznica and which produces components for motor vehicles, got a subsidy from the state for the expansion of the production of EUR 23.5 million. The company is part of the Chinese Minth Group, and the money is allocated for the second phase of the construction of the factory for the production of automotive parts in Loznica.

After that, in mid-July the company Minal Europe Green Material doo Sabac, which is part of the Chinese Minth Group, received subsidies of EUR 4.51 million from Serbia. Under the contract, the company should invest money in the construction of a new facility for the production of aluminum alloys in Sabac, Nova Ekonomija reported.

Recently, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) also announced that it was considering approving a loan to the Chinese company Minth Group Limited for the financing of the expansion of operations in Serbia and Poland in the field of the manufacture of casings for electric vehicle batteries.

According to the IFC data, the total value of Minth’s project of the expansion of operations in Serbia and Poland amounts to EUR 598 million, and it is said that the projects are expected to be operational by 2025.

Minth also has connections with the Slovakian company InoBat, which announced the construction of a giga-factory for the production and recycling of batteries for electric vehicles in Cuprija a year ago, and then also announced that it had signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese Minth Group on cooperation in the European battery supply chain. As Serbian media reported, one of the investors in InoBat is Rio Tinto, which intends to mine lithium in Loznica.

It is also worth noting that, in July, Serbia and the EU signed, in Belgrade, the Memorandum of Understanding on the Strategic Partnership for Sustainable Raw Materials and the Letter on intent on the Development of the e-Mobility Value Chain in Serbia was signed at the time as well, with Rio Tinto and InoBat putting their signatures on it.

When it comes to Minth’s plans in Serbia, it is known (so far) that they encompass the expansion of the existing facilities of Minth Automotive Europe DOO (MAE) for the production of casings for electric car batteries, within the existing complex in Loznica, as well as for support to the construction of three production lines in Sabac.

And it remains to be seen what Minth and its majority Swiss partner plan to do on the huge piece of land in Dobanovci. Considering their portfolio, but also the investments of the Chinese company announced so far, it is least likely that they will stick to Lamda’s previous plans.

B. P.

Lamda development d.o.o. Beograd

Singidunum-buildings doo Beograd

Spark investment doo Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

Rio Sava Exploration d.o.o. Beograd

Minal Europe Green Material doo Šabac

Minth automotive Europe doo Loznica

Lamda Development

Singidunum Buildings doo

Spark investment doo

Minth Holdings Limited

Spectrum Equity Partners AG

Government of Serbia

Rio Tinto

InoBat

megacomplex Singidunum near Dobanovci

production of components for automotive industry

production of electric vehicles

production of casings for batteries for electric cars

sale of land