Slovenia gains EUR 7.3 mio from the sale of former SFRY real estate in New York

29. 9. 2022

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In March 2022, the successor states of the former Social Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) signed the joint sale contract and in September 2022, the closing documents for the sale of the real estate of the former SFRY Mission to the United Nations. Slovenia will receive EUR 7.3 million from the sale of the property at 854 Fifth Avenue, New York, which is 14 per cent of the total purchase price.

Stavba nekdanje Misije SFRJ pri OZN — The building of the former SFRY Mission to the UN | Author Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve

Since the collapse of the former common state, the property has been used by the Republic of Serbia as its diplomatic representation. The building, located directly opposite Central Park, was built in 1905 and designed by the architects Warren and Wetmore, who also planned the famous Grand Central Terminal in New York. It is the last preserved palace of Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the wealthiest Americans of the 19th century.

The former SFRY purchased the building in 1946, with funds for the purchase being raised mainly by emigrants with the Slovenian-American writer Louis Adamič at the helm. The facility was continuously used by the former SFRY as its representation to the United Nations in New York.

Talks between successor states on the succession of the diplomatic properties of the former SFRY have reached the final phase, with over 90 per cent of the quota of properties listed in Annex B of the Agreement on Succession Issues having already been distributed. In this process, Slovenia has been allocated 13 diplomatic properties, of which it uses the premises in Washington and Klagenfurt and two properties in Rome for its own purposes. The remaining properties have either been sold or are in the process of being sold.

Over the last five years, Slovenia has gained 14 per cent of the total sale proceeds or nearly EUR 12 million from the successor states' joint sale of five immovable properties of the former SFRY in New York (residence and Mission premises), Bern, Bonn and Tokyo in accordance with Annex B of the Agreement on Succession Issues.

Furthermore, in the last five years, Slovenia has already sold the former SFRY properties in Milan, Bamako, Brasilia and Sao Paulo, which were allocated to it and which it does not need. In total, Slovenia has acquired nearly €5.8 million from the sale of these properties.

In accordance with Article 9 of the Foreign Affairs Act, the funds gained are budgetary resources and are earmarked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.

In further talks with successor states, Slovenia will strive for an early resolution of the remaining outstanding issues, including an agreement on the succession of the residencies of military representatives of the former SFRY abroad within Annex B of the Agreement on Succession Issues.