Category: Money and deals
Period: from Jul 2015
Outcome: Under investigation (as of 6 Aug 2015)
In the summer of 2015, the Ministry of Construction, in a decision signed by minister Zorana Mihajlović, allowed the private company PK “Zlatibor” to register ownership of 2,213 hectares of state land on Zlatibor, which the mayor of Čajetina, Milan Stamatović, claimed was worth four billion euros. The decisions were annulled only after the local authorities stepped in, two employees were suspended, and the outcome of the criminal complaints against those involved in issuing the decisions has not been made public. In 2026, the Republic Geodetic Authority said the land had not been transferred into private ownership.
In the summer of 2015, the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, in a decision signed by minister Zorana Mihajlović, allowed the private company PK “Zlatibor” to register ownership of 2,213 hectares of land on Zlatibor that had until then been state property. The owner of the company denied that he was being given anything for free.
The mayor of the Municipality of Čajetina, Milan Stamatović, warned the public that the land was being handed over without compensation and claimed it was worth four billion euros.
Minister Mihajlović first said that the ministry had acted entirely in line with the law and that the decision was not final, but a ministerial working group then found grounds to suspect criminal liability in the second-instance proceedings. In early August 2015, only after the local authorities stepped in, the decisions were annulled and the cases sent back for a fresh procedure following a lawsuit by the State Attorney's Office.
Two ministry employees were suspended, and the ministry filed criminal complaints with the prosecution against those directly involved in issuing the decisions. The ministry maintains that state property suffered no damage. The outcome of the criminal complaints has not been made public.
The dispute between Stamatović and Mihajlović dragged on for years, with each accusing the other. In 2026, Čajetina municipality sought the annulment of the combine's privatisation, and in July 2026 the Republic Geodetic Authority said that the state land on Zlatibor had not been transferred into private ownership.