Twenty-five years on, denationalisation still not completed

While the vast majority of properties have been returned or their owners compensated, several major cases are still pending.

The law was adopted on 20 November 1991 and entered into force two weeks later. It was conceived as a political agreement to rectify the injustices perpetrated by Yugoslavia, which systematically and arbitrarily confiscated property in line with the Communist agenda of collective public ownership.

Property had been confiscated after the war from major industrialists, landowners, those suspected of having collaborated with the enemy forces during the war, and, most notably, the Catholic Church.

The law determined that the confiscated property be returned in kind whenever possible. Alternatively, claimants are entitled to compensation in cash or bonds.

The original plan was to wrap up all procedures by 2005. Of the nearly 40,000...