New postponement of repayment for confiscated property – First restitution payments to be made in 2021

The deadline for restitution payments is postponed, with the first repayments for those not eligible for compensation in kind slated for 2021, B92 reports.

The deadline for financial compensation for property confiscated after WW2 is moved from December 15, 2018, to 2021, under the amendments to the Law on Property Restitution and Compensation, which have been put before the National Assembly.

Marija Krstic of the Restitution Agency says that the reason is that the macroeconomic stability of the state cannot be jeopardized at any cost.

She reminded that the total amount of compensations in all the ongoing procedures is EUR 2 billion, whereas the confiscated property has been evaluated at EUR 13.6 billion.

– No state has ever carried out the restitution fully in kind – Krstic said.

When asked whether citizens have a choice of accepting the reduced amounts they will wait for for another three years or not, Krstic says is that it is up to them.

Krstic pointed out that another reason for the postponement is that there are great difficulties in acquiring evidence.

According to her, the Restituion Agency has so far resolved 70% of the 76,000 requests filed. A total of 475,000 m2 of office space, facilities and apartments, 347,000 hectares of undeveloped building land, 54,000 hectares of forest land and 37,500 hectares of agricultural land, has been returned so far.

Agencija za restituciju Republike Srbije

Evropski sud za ljudska prava Strasburg

Restitution Agency

Marija Krstic

Law on Property Restitution and Compensation

postponement of restitution

restitution in kind

restitution of building land

restitution of forest land

restitution of agricultural land