Municipality of Esch has been served with a claim for 130 million euros

Entrepreneur Kindy Fritsch has brought legal proceedings against the municipality of Esch-sur-Alzette, seeking compensation of 130 million euros. The dispute centres on the long-running Portal Eent property development, for which a plot of land measuring approximately 50 ares was allocated at the junction of Boulevard Prince Henri and Rue Victor Hugo. 

There were plans to build a large residential complex here. In 2020, an agreement was signed between the city authorities and PORTAL EENT S.à.r.l., obliging the municipality to purchase 11 flats for subsequent transfer to the social housing stock. However, in November 2023, the local administration intervened in the work of the land registry and blocked the procedure for the vertical division of the property, which is a mandatory legal step for registering individual flats in the multi-unit residential building under construction.

The former mayor, Georges Mischo, stated that he could not explain the reasons behind this administrative decision, as he no longer had any control over the matter. For his part, LSAP spokesperson Steve Faltz demanded that the source data be provided and that a transparent investigation be carried out, emphasising that the municipality has no right to halt development projects without sound legal grounds. 

At the same time, Fritsch publicly accused the city authorities of embezzlement, nepotism and corruption. On his social media page, he claimed that in 2024, the Esh administration had withdrawn 9.5 million euros originally earmarked in the budget for the Portal Eent project and redirected the funds to finance another construction project — Rout Lëns.

Mischo rejected these allegations, stating that the two properties were financed independently of one another and that no funds had been transferred between them. He cited the general trend of stagnation in the local market as evidence, mentioning other suspended initiatives, in particular projects by Silverfinch and Scholesch-Eck, the delays in which, he said, were also unrelated to the actions of the city administration.

The incumbent mayor, Christian Weis, is refraining from commenting on the substance of the dispute at this stage. According to his written statement, the municipality will only be able to issue a public statement once a lawyer has been appointed who will have access to all the case files and will be able to form a complete legal picture of the situation.