UAE property tycoon withdraws from sanctions-hit Belarus

The Emirati real estate developer behind Dubai's signature skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, has initiated the sale of property assets he owns in Belarus, a country targeted by Western sanctions, according to two people familiar with the matter, as he collaborates with Jared Kushner on a possible investment in Serbia.

Mohamed Alabbar, the Emirati real estate tycoon, has reached a preliminary agreement to sell his interests in a multi-billion-dollar property development in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, through his Symphony Global Holdings investment vehicle, the people familiar with the matter said.

The Emirati developer's departure from Belarus comes amid a new collaboration with Kushner, the son-in-law of former U.S. President Donald Trump, to redevelop a former Yugoslav army headquarters building in Serbia into a residential complex.

Their collaboration has not been previously reported.