According to the Serbian Economist, the investment company of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, Affinity Partners, has withdrawn from the project to build a hotel and business complex on the site of the former building of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army in the center of Belgrade.
According to Radio Liberty (Balkan service), the company has withdrawn its application for the project, which envisioned the construction of a luxury complex on the site of the General Staff buildings destroyed during NATO bombing raids in 1999.
According to a spokesman for Affinity Partners, the decision was made “out of respect for the citizens of Serbia and Belgrade,” as large projects “should unite, not divide” society.
The announcement of the company’s withdrawal from the project came against the background of the fact that on the same day, the Serbian Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime filed an indictment against Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and a number of officials. They are accused of abuse of power and falsification of documentation when the General Staff complex was stripped of its status of protected cultural heritage, which opened the way for commercial development of the site.
Kushner’s project during the year caused mass protests of the opposition, student and urban protection initiatives, which insisted on the preservation and restoration of the complex as an important monument of modernist architecture and a memorial site associated with the victims of the 1999 bombings. Activists called the investor’s rejection an “important victory,” but warned that the General Staff remains at risk of status changes and possible demolition in favor of other development projects.
The Serbian government and presidential administration had not commented on the information about Affinity Partners’ withdrawal from the project at the time of publication of the Radio Liberty piece.
Affinity Partners is a private investment company of Jared Kushner, created after his departure from Donald Trump’s administration and working with the capital of Middle Eastern and other institutional investors. In Serbia, the redevelopment project of the General Staff complex was realized through affiliated structures (including Atlantic Incubation Partners / Affinity Global Development) and envisioned an investment of about $500 million, a 99-year lease on the site and a profit share for the state of Serbia of about 22%, the New York Times and other media reported earlier.
https://t.me/relocationrs/1947
In January-November 2025, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and nickel products by 0.3% compared to the same period in 2024, to $23.592 million. In November, imports of nickel and nickel products amounted to $2.546 million.
Exports of nickel and nickel products in January-November 2025 amounted to $1.245 million (in November — $113,000) compared to $585,000 in the first 11 months of 2024.
In addition, Ukraine increased imports of nickel and nickel products by 73.7% in 2024 compared to 2023, to $26.730 million.
At the same time, in 2023, it reduced imports of nickel and nickel products by 74.2% compared to 2022, to $15.391 million.
Exports of nickel and nickel products in 2024 amounted to $602,000, while in 2023 they amounted to $532,000, and in 2022 — $1.268 million.
Nickel is used in the production of stainless steel and for nickel plating. Nickel is also used in the production of batteries, in powder metallurgy, and in chemical reagents.
American payment system operator PayPal Holdings Inc. has applied to establish a bank. According to a PayPal press release, the application has been submitted to the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for review.
The company expects PayPal Bank to be able to provide credit solutions to small businesses in the US, as well as offer interest-bearing savings accounts to consumers.
“Since 2013, the company has provided access to more than $30 billion in financing in the form of loans and working capital to businesses around the world,” the press release said. “The creation of PayPal Bank will allow us to offer credit solutions to businesses more effectively.”
PayPal Bank also plans to participate in the card business in the US.
The bank will be headed by Mara McNeill, who has 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining PayPal, she was president and CEO of Toyota Financial Savings Bank.
PayPal shares have fallen 29% since the beginning of this year.
In January-November 2025, Ukraine increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 15.1% compared to the same period in 2024, to $470.783 million. In November, imports amounted to $38.698 million.
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in January-November 2025 increased by 21.7% to $141.114 million. In November, aluminum exports amounted to $12.971 million.
In addition, Ukraine increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 21.7% in 2024 compared to 2023, to $446.006 million.
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in 2024 increased by 27.4% to $124.408 million.
In 2023, exports of aluminum and aluminum products increased by 0.7% compared to 2022, reaching $97.616 million, while imports increased by 7.7%, reaching $366.463 million.
Aluminum is widely used as a structural material. The main advantages of aluminum are its lightness, malleability, corrosion resistance, high thermal conductivity, and the non-toxicity of its compounds.
In particular, these properties have made aluminum extremely popular in the manufacture of cookware, aluminum foil in the food industry, and for packaging. The first three properties have made aluminum the main raw material in the aviation and aerospace industries (recently, it has been replaced by composite materials, primarily carbon fiber). After construction and packaging production—aluminum cans and foil—the largest consumer of metal is the energy industry.
The volume of tractor imports to Ukraine in January-November 2025 amounted to $762.55 million, which is 5.5% more than in the same period of 2024 ($722.5 million), according to statistics from the State Customs Service.
According to the published statistics, tractors were mainly imported from the United States (21.8% of total imports of this equipment, or $166 million), China (17% or $130 million), and Germany (16.6% or $126.4 million), while last year Germany was the leader ($110 million), China was second ($100.56 million), and the US was third ($97.3 million).
At the same time, imports from other countries in January-November decreased by 18% to $340.31 million.
In November this year, tractor imports to Ukraine decreased by 4% compared to November 2024, to $59.5 million, which is also 19.4% less than in October 2025.
Since the beginning of this year, as reported, tractor imports to Ukraine have shown negative dynamics: in January, they were one-third lower than in January 2024, but by the end of the first half of the year, the figures were almost equal to last year’s.
According to statistics from the State Customs Service, this year, in January-November, tractors worth almost $6 million were exported, mainly to Romania (22.4%), Belgium, and Germany, while last year during this period, exports amounted to $5 million, mainly to Moldova (25.6%), Kazakhstan, and the Czech Republic.
As reported, tractor imports to Ukraine in 2024 amounted to almost $784 million, 5.6% less than a year earlier, while exports amounted to $5.44 million compared to $5.74 million.
In January-November of this year, Ukrainian enterprises increased imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 25.8% compared to the same period last year, to $160.184 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine on Friday, exports of copper and copper products during the specified period increased by 15.3% to $93.531 million.
In November, copper imports amounted to $12.131 million, while exports amounted to $9.511 million.
As reported, in 2024, Ukraine maintained imports of copper and copper products in value terms at the previous year’s level — up to $140.797 million, while exports grew by 22.4% — up to $88.237 million.
In 2023, Ukraine increased imports of copper and copper products by 2.2 times compared to 2022, to $140.795 million, while exports decreased by 20.1%, to $72.078 million.
Copper is widely used in electrical engineering, in the production of pipes, for creating alloys, in medicine, and in other industries.
