Sava Centar (Serbian Cyrillic: Сава центар) is an international congress, cultural and business center of various multi-functional activities located in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.

[4][5] In 1975, after the First Conference of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, held in Helsinki, Finland, the President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito accepted for Belgrade to host the next summit.

Maksimović spent that month either in seclusion in his office in the City Assembly of Belgrade or on planes, visiting Paris, The Hague (Babylon), Copenhagen and Helsinki to inspect existing facilities of this type.

By 1979, Hotel Beograd InterContinental, now the Crowne Plaza Belgrade, was added to the complex to host the annual meeting of the World Bank.

Local press of the time named it a "spaceship", "a glass garden", "the beauty on the Sava", "a concrete ship of peace", "goodwill house", etc.

[6] As the initial construction period overlapped with the finishing works at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the two structures were often compared at the time.

In its jubilee year of 2007, when Sava Centar marked its 30th anniversary, substantial financing was utilized to reconstruct the glass facade.

Furthermore, city authorities funded the reconstruction of broken glass on the sideways-facing facade, the acquisition of stage audio equipment for concert appearances and the replacement of seats in the main halls.

The bidding was announced in 2016 and two companies, Delta Holding and a consortium headed by Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport showed interest.

City authorities prolonged tender deadlines four times and decided to change some of the bidding conditions, so Delta Holding backed off.

Their condition was to build a footbridge to the future Intercontinental Hotel, planned by Delta Holding in the vicinity, who would accept the venue's entire debt but split eventual profits with the city.

[7][19] By this time, architects, economists, citizens' groups and political opposition parties began to criticize the city's handling of the matter, especially in the summer of 2020 when a similar, failed process was conducted for another symbol of Belgrade, the Beograđanka skyscraper.

The city itself appraised Sava Centar at €108 million in 2016, but constantly kept offering it for 4 to 9 times less money, changing its mind and evading a deal closure.

Miloje Popović, the first manager of the venue, said that the city was making a mistake by selling it, that they should devise the right policy for congressional tourism instead, as such buildings are never built to be commercial on their own, instead attracting thousands of people whose spending benefits the entire community.

[8] On 11 September 2020, the city offered the complex again, reducing the price to €21.9 million, without changing the required amount of future investment,[24] but two weeks later this process failed as well, with nobody applying.

[26] Delta Holding applied as the sole bidder, finally purchasing the venue on 9 November 2020,[27] and announcing an investment of €60 million, even higher than stipulated by the contract.

Along with the building, Delta Holding acquired some 40 valuable works of art, including paintings, tapestries, sculptures, a clock installation, etc.

[7][8] Five months after the venue was sold to the private owner, the government declared Sava Centar a cultural monument on 8 April 2021.

[2][3] When the City Assembly of Belgrade scheduled its 29 April 2021 session in the venue, due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, they referred to the structure as the "Delta Congressional Center, former Sava Centar".

The management of Delta Holding reacted, stating that the name "Sava Centar" itself is a city symbol and brand of its own, and that it would not be changed.

Delta Holding claimed in July 2022 that it already had booked congresses for late 2023 through 2025, and that total cost of the purchase, investment and renovation would be north of €90 million.

King, Lou Reed, Roxy Music, Jethro Tull, Sting, David Byrne, Simple Minds, Laurie Anderson, Samantha Fox, Jason Donovan, Slobodan Trkulja, Bilja Krstić, Gotan Project and Madredeus.

It also serves as the venue of the Miss Serbia competition, the Serbian Eurovision Song Contest selection music festivals, Beovizija and was the host place of the Jugovizija (in 1987).