# The Šumadija Hotel and the father of minister Nebojša Stefanović Category: Above the law Period: Feb 2019 – Jul 2020 Outcome: Under investigation (as of 14 Mar 2019) The Hotel Šumadija in Belgrade, which Njegomir Kilibarda bought in a 2004 privatisation for €2.8 million, was sold at auction on 8 February 2019 for €280.000. A week later, according to BIRN, masked men smashed its entrance with axes and clubs. According to Kilibarda, the sale was preceded by meetings with Branko Stefanović, father of then police minister Nebojša Stefanović, who offered him money for the hotel; Branko Stefanović denied this. The minister said the investigation had not been dropped, but no indictment or verdict for the attack has been found in any source. ## Privatisation and auction Njegomir Kilibarda bought the Šumadija Hotel in Banovo Brdo, Belgrade, in a 2004 privatisation for €2.8 million. Saddled with debt, the hotel was lost at auction on 8 February 2019, where the company B&B group bought it for €280,000. ## Entrance smashed with axes A week later, on 15 February 2019 at around 20h, about fifteen masked men smashed the hotel's entrance with axes and clubs, according to BIRN. A representative of the buyer entered the hotel together with the police who had come to examine the scene, while Kilibarda, according to BIRN, sat frightened in the restaurant. ## The minister's father's offer According to Kilibarda, the sale was preceded by three meetings with Branko Stefanović, father of then police minister Nebojša Stefanović, who offered him help with his debt in exchange for the hotel and brought a backpack to the last meeting that he said contained €300.000. Branko Stefanović confirmed the meetings and that they had discussed a loan and the hotel, but denied offering money and sued Kilibarda for damage to his reputation. Kilibarda also claims that Aleksandar Papić, the minister's best man, later offered him money on the minister's behalf to keep quiet. ## Cancelled questioning and the investigation BIRN reported that police summoned Kilibarda for questioning about the attack, then cancelled it without explanation, and that the Interior Ministry did not answer questions about the investigation. Minister Stefanović said the investigation had not been dropped, that police had established who broke down the door, that the hotel's new director was behind it and that a report had been sent to the prosecution. He declined to discuss his father's role. No source shows an indictment or verdict over the attack. ## Lawsuit and death of Branko Stefanović Branko Stefanović died on 6 July 2020; the outcome of his lawsuit against Kilibarda is not known. The same father also appears in the “Krušik” affair. In July 2020 minister Stefanović sued the Nova.rs portal over an article about his father. In February 2022 the Court of Appeal in Belgrade upheld the ruling of the Higher Court in Belgrade in his case against the portal, which then published the operative part of the ruling. ## Participants - [Nebojša Stefanović](https://odgovornost.rs/en/osobe/nebojsa-stefanovic): Kilibarda says Papić, acting for the minister, offered him compensation to stay silent; there were indications that the Interior Ministry's investigation was halted because of the minister's father (responsible) - [Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/mup-srbije): Cancelled Kilibarda's questioning without explanation, and there were indications that the investigation into the attack had been halted because of the minister's father (responsible) - [BIRN](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/birn): Reported that masked men had smashed up the hotel and that, according to Kilibarda, the minister's father had negotiated the sale (oversight and the public) - [Democratic Party](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/demokratska-stranka): On 15 March 2019, called on the minister to disclose to the public and prosecutors everything about his and his father's role (oversight and the public) - [Second Basic Court in Belgrade](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/drugi-osnovni-sud-beograd): Is hearing Branko Stefanović's civil suit against Kilibarda; Stefanović did not appear at the hearing on 19 November 2019, and Kilibarda stood by his claim about the money (investigation and courts) - [Aleksandar Papić](https://odgovornost.rs/en/osobe/aleksandar-papic): According to Kilibarda, offered him compensation on behalf of minister Stefanović in exchange for silence about the minister's father's role in the sale of the hotel (responsible) ## Victims and others harmed - [Njegomir Kilibarda](https://odgovornost.rs/en/osobe/njegomir-kilibarda) ## Sources - [N1: The sale of Hotel "Šumadija" and the question of the minister's father's role](): 14 Mar 2019 - [N1: BIRN: Hooligans smash up "Šumadija", police minister's father negotiated the sale](): 14 Mar 2019 - [Vreme: The eviction of a former best friend](): 20 Oct 2021 - [Danas: The phantoms of Banovo Brdo: Who wrecked Hotel Šumadija?](): 14 Mar 2019 - [N1: Branko Stefanović on Hotel Šumadija and BIRN's reporting](): 14 Mar 2019 - [BIRN / Balkan Insight: The phantoms of Banovo Brdo: Who wrecked Hotel Šumadija](): 14 Mar 2019 - [N1: Tabloid owner and Stefanović's former man: Who is Aleksandar Papić, the man linked to the "letter to Vučić"](): 10 Dec 2023 - [Danas: Stefanović: Hotel Šumadija investigation not dropped, stories about me are lies](): 14 Mar 2019 - [Danas: DS: Stefanović must explain his role in the purchase of “Šumadija”](): 15 Mar 2019 - [Danas: Trial in Branko Stefanović's lawsuit against the former owner of Hotel “Šumadija”](): 19 Nov 2019 - [021.rs: Nebojša Stefanović's late father still listed as company director](): 20 Jun 2024 - [N1: Nebojša Stefanović sues the nova.rs portal over an article about Branko Stefanović](): 22 Jul 2020 - [Nova.rs: Publication of the judgment in Nebojša Stefanović's lawsuit against the Nova.rs portal](): 20 Apr 2022 --- Source: Odgovornost, https://odgovornost.rs/en/afere/hotel-sumadija As of: 5 Nov 2026 Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)