Genex
GENERALEXPORT (GENEX short) was one of the largest foreign trade companies in former Yugoslavia. It was so big that it managed to pile up 6,8 billion dollars of turnover even during the clandestine year of 1990 (offiically the year when the breakup of Yugoslavia began). It had six and a half thousand employees and 70 branches across the world. The destiny of the former state and ideology eventually caught up with the enterprise - in 2005 it was left with only 6 employees and the Wesern Gate of Belgrade also known as Genex Tower. This concrete monument to brutalist architetcture and days of yore, and a homage of sorts to Trellick Tower in London, is surely one of the ugliest building in the world (and Belgrade’s pride and joy in that respect).
If you’re entering Belgrade from the west, there is absolutely no way of missing it: this 119 meter ogre gapes for miles around from the highway. Its supposed rotating restaurant on the top of the building is in fact an urban myth. It’s not that the heads of Genex did not want it, but the mechanism that was supposed to rotate the internal ring (so that the guests could see the full 360 degrees panorama of Belgrade in an hour) turned out to be way too costly, even for that time. Anyhoo, the restaurant has seen its last guests off, back in 1996. They weren’t tourists, but business partners of the self-management-socialist-trading giant. Nowadays, this collosal edifice has 16000 square meters of abandoned office space and serves as a giant broadcasting antenna stand or a gargantuous billboard (as the facade is often covered with printed canvas advertisments of considerable proportions). It's also become a site of some unintended but nevertheless, incredibly charming and respectable pilgrimages.
All in all, if somebody tells you that something's near Genex, they’re referring to the Generalexport’s Tower in New Belgrade. Frankly, the surroundings are not particularly appealing, but there is an abundance of parking space. RENTASTAN currently has no apartments in the vicinity of GENEX, but some of our apartments in Belville or near the Arena may be a very acceptable substitute.
RETURN TO BELGRADE SLANG TOPONYMY DICTIONARY
If you’re entering Belgrade from the west, there is absolutely no way of missing it: this 119 meter ogre gapes for miles around from the highway. Its supposed rotating restaurant on the top of the building is in fact an urban myth. It’s not that the heads of Genex did not want it, but the mechanism that was supposed to rotate the internal ring (so that the guests could see the full 360 degrees panorama of Belgrade in an hour) turned out to be way too costly, even for that time. Anyhoo, the restaurant has seen its last guests off, back in 1996. They weren’t tourists, but business partners of the self-management-socialist-trading giant. Nowadays, this collosal edifice has 16000 square meters of abandoned office space and serves as a giant broadcasting antenna stand or a gargantuous billboard (as the facade is often covered with printed canvas advertisments of considerable proportions). It's also become a site of some unintended but nevertheless, incredibly charming and respectable pilgrimages.
All in all, if somebody tells you that something's near Genex, they’re referring to the Generalexport’s Tower in New Belgrade. Frankly, the surroundings are not particularly appealing, but there is an abundance of parking space. RENTASTAN currently has no apartments in the vicinity of GENEX, but some of our apartments in Belville or near the Arena may be a very acceptable substitute.
RETURN TO BELGRADE SLANG TOPONYMY DICTIONARY