The Albanian government has given preliminary approval to a plan proposed by Donald J. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to build a $1.4 billion luxury hotel complex on a small abandoned military base off the coast of Albania. Ta.
The project is one of several involving Mr. Trump and his relatives, as well as direct involvement by foreign government agencies, that will continue while Mr. Trump is in charge of foreign policy related to these countries. It is something.
Approval from the Albanian Strategic Investment Board, headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, gives Kushner and his business partners the right to accelerate negotiations to build a luxury resort on a 1,400-acre parcel of the 2.2 square meter site. Southern Island will be connected to the mainland by ferry.
Kushner and the Albanian government did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. But when asked earlier about the project, both men said their ratings were not influenced by Kushner's relationship with Trump or any efforts to curry favor with the U.S. government.
“We are extremely proud and pleased that such a prominent American entrepreneur is interested in investing in Albania,” a spokesperson for Rama told The New York Times last year. When asked about the project in a statement, he said:
Mr. Kushner's private equity firm, Affinity Partners, is backed by about $4.6 billion in funding, primarily from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, and is backed by Mr. Kushner's former real estate executive Asher Abecerra. Together with him, he is promoting a project in Albania. Build project in Brooklyn, New York in partnership with
According to official documents recently posted online, the Albanian government will now work with its U.S. partners to eliminate the possibility of buried weapons from the proposed hotel site and any other circumstances that need to be resolved before the project can proceed. The company plans to investigate legal issues. First.
The document, dated December 30, states that the government “has the right to reverse the decision” depending on final negotiations on the project.
Kushner's company says its plan is to build a five-star “eco-resort community” on the island by transforming “a former military base into a vibrant international destination offering hospitality and wellness.” He said that.
Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump also said she is collaborating on the project. “We're going to do it,” she said of the project on a podcast last year.
The project is just one of two major real estate deals involving foreign governments that Mr. Kushner is pursuing with Mr. Abecerra.
Separately, the partnership last year received preliminary approval to build a luxury hotel complex in the former Ministry of Defense building in Belgrade, Serbia. The building had been vacant for decades since being bombed by NATO during the 1999 war.
Serbia and Albania have foreign policy issues with the United States. Both countries seek continued U.S. support in their long-standing efforts to join the European Union, and Washington officials are trying to persuade Serbia to strengthen ties with the U.S. instead. of Russia.
Virginia Cantor, who served as White House ethics lawyer in the Obama and Clinton administrations and as ethics adviser to the International Monetary Fund, said that even if there were no attempts to increase influence over Trump, his family said any government agreement involving the United States would create that effect. impression.
“It all seems like favoritism,” said Kanter, who now works for the State Democracy Defense Fund, a group that tracks corruption and ethics issues in the federal government. “It's like providing access to people.”
