Albania's government has given preliminary approval to a plan by Jared Kushner, Donald J. Trump's son-in-law, to build a $1.4 billion luxury hotel complex on a small abandoned military base off the coast of Albania .
The project is one of several involving Mr. Trump and his extended family and directly involving foreign government agencies that will move forward even while Mr. Trump will be in charge of foreign policy regarding the same countries.
The approval by the Albanian Strategic Investment Committee – which is led by Prime Minister Edi Rama – gives Mr Kushner and his business partners the right to move forward with accelerated negotiations to build the luxury resort on a 111 hectare portion of the 2.2 sq. meter-long island of Sazan that will be connected to the mainland by ferry.
Mr Kushner and the Albanian government did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. But when previously asked about this project, both have said the review is not influenced by Mr. Kushner's ties to Mr. Trump or any attempt to curry favors from the U.S. government.
“The fact that such a renowned American entrepreneur is showing interest in investing in Albania makes us very proud and happy,” a spokesman for Mr. Rama said in a statement to The New York Times last year when asked about the projects.
Mr. Kushner's Affinity Partners, a private equity firm backed by about $4.6 billion in money, mostly from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, is pursuing the Albania project with Asher Abehsera, a real estate manager who Mr. Kushner has led before. collaborated to build projects in Brooklyn, NY
According to an official document recently posted online, the Albanian government will now work with its US partners to clear the proposed hotel site of any possible buried munitions and to investigate any other environmental or legal issues that need to be resolved before the project can proceed are moved. forward.
The document, dated December 30, notes that the government “has the right to withdraw the decision” depending on the final project negotiations.
Mr. Kushner's firm has said the plan is to build a five-star “eco-resort community” on the island by transforming a “former military base into a vibrant international destination for hospitality and wellness.”
Ivanka Trump, Mr. Trump's daughter, has said she is also helping with the project. “We are going to implement it,” she said last year during a podcast about the project.
The project is just one of two major real estate deals that Mr. Kushner is pursuing with Mr. Abehsera involving foreign governments.
In addition, the partnership last year received preliminary approval to build a luxury hotel complex in Belgrade, Serbia, in the former Defense Ministry building, which stood empty for decades after being bombed by NATO during a war in 1999 there.
Serbia and Albania have foreign policy matters pending with the United States as both countries seek continued American support for their long-stalled efforts to join the European Union, and officials in Washington try to convince Serbia to strengthen ties with the United States. of Russia.
Virginia Canter, who served as a White House ethics attorney during the Obama and Clinton administrations and also ethics adviser to the International Monetary Fund, said that even if there were no attempt to gain influence over Mr. Trump, any government deal involving his family is involved, makes that impression.
“It all seems like cronyism, like they're granting access to Kushner because they want to be on Trump's good side,” said Ms. Canter, now with the State Democracy Defenders Fund, a group that tracks corruption and ethics issues in the federal government.
