Čedo Popović started working while the city was under blockade: "He took advantage of the Pride Parade"

The workers hired by Cedo Popović's "Carine" company yesterday started work on the reconstruction of the hospitality facility and the construction of a four-star hotel in the center of Podgorica.

The tenants of the solitaire under which Popović's restaurant used to be located say that they are convinced that he took advantage of yesterday's Pride Parade and the fact that the event was secured by the police, and that in this way any attempt by citizens to rebel against the works was suppressed.

"We called the communal police, but they told us that they don't work," the tenant, architect Pavle Popović, told "Vijesta".

The company "Carine" started the preparation for the reconstruction of the restaurant in mid-September.

Čedo Popović previously told "Vijesta" that they received a construction permit for the works and that they have all the necessary documentation.

"The main works will last two to three months, and will be carried out in stages. We will invest around three million euros in the hotel, which will have four stars. The hotel will have about thirty rooms", said the owner of "Carina" at the time.

Architect Popović reminded that about 200 tenants signed a petition, which asked the mayor of Podgorica, Ivan Vuković, to stop the project and revise the project documentation.

They also sent a letter to the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MORT).

"Neither the Municipality nor MORT have responded to the written requests of the tenants, which is disrespectful to the citizens in favor of the owner of 'Customs' as an individual," said Popović.

Tenants have previously stated that they are exposed to a gross violation of the right to free use of personal property and freedom of movement.

"About 150 solitaire tenants squeeze between the restaurant terrace on the sidewalk in front of the building every day to get to their entrances. Solitaire with three entrances, 49 apartments and the same number of families, from a residential building with several business premises, was transformed in the last decade into a hospitality facility of the company 'Carine', with a restaurant in the basement, a cafeteria on the first floor, a kitchen and a garden on the sidewalk of the main roads", they told "Vijesti" earlier.

Architect Popović said that the solitaire was built according to all the parameters of the profession, and the fact that there was no damage during the 1979 earthquake is proof of that.

He assessed that it is inadmissible that rooms are now being built on that building, partitions and load-bearing walls are being torn down, it is disrupting the statics...

He also adds that, although the company "Carine" has started the works, there is no board anywhere in the area that lists the mandatory information, such as the start and end of the works, the name of the designer, the contractor...

At the end of January, acting chief state architect Dušan Vuksanović gave his consent to the conceptual project "Carina".

The leading designer, as stated in the conceptual project document, which is available on the MORT website, is architect Nikola Drakić.