The Special Police Department requested, by order of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), the Municipality of Budva to provide them with complete documentation for the now closed Cadmus Cineplex cinema, i.e. the contractual relationship between the local administration and the company "Lovćen Film".
This was unofficially confirmed to the "News" in the Municipality of Budva.
A letter stating that the prosecutor's office headed by Vladimir Novović is interested in the cinema project arrived at the address of the office of the President of the Municipality at the end of last week, which was then forwarded to all the elders of the local self-government bodies, with a request to submit the requested documents and declare from the point of view of their competence on the contractual the relationship that the two parties have.
As "Vijesti" learns, complete documentation is required - from the contract, payment methods, to the termination and closing of the cinema.
This reopens the cinema case, which was investigated by the Special Prosecutor's Office while it was managed by Milivoje Katnić.
In 2014, the municipality and "Lovćen Film" concluded a contract in which the management committed to cede approximately 20 square meters to the private company for 1.500 years, after the convocation of councilors from the ranks of the DPS and SDP gave the green light at the parliamentary session. business and about 200 square meters of non-residential space in the TQ Plaza complex, but also annually pays 199.000 euros in subsidies for organizing socially useful programs.
Cadmus Cineplex is a cinema with four screens that was opened in 2015 by the then Minister of Culture and the President of the Municipality back in 2015, during the DPS rule.
However, the then city administration from the ranks of the DPS concluded the annex to the contract, according to which the Municipality undertook to pay "Lovćen film" EUR 2015 for 2016 and 398.000, i.e. subsidies for the 2019 and 2020 lease years.
However, in 2016, the management of the city was taken over by Srđa Popović, a member of the DPS, who initiated a court case for the termination of the annex to the contract.
Local elections soon follow, in which, after a decade, the DPS loses power, and the Democrats and the Democratic Front win, so in the first two-year term from the end of 2016 to the end of December 2018, the city is governed by Dragan Krapović (Democrats).
His administration continues the court case with the company "Lovćen film" and a series of mutual court cases opens. In July 2018, Krapović's administration also submitted a criminal complaint to the Special State Prosecutor's Office, which included all actors in the contract regarding the construction of the cinema.
For a full eight years, the Municipality did not pay subsidies to the account of "Lovćen film", so the company collected it by force, by blocking the municipal treasury.
The culmination comes in February this year, when the city is managed by the now detained Mayor of the Municipality Milo Božović. Years of friction culminated on February 2, when the company, after eight years of management, closed the cinema and sent 15 workers to the labor office. At that time, Lovćen Filma warned the Municipality that if the local government were to run the cinema alone, the annual loss would be at least 366.000 euros. Since then, there have been attempts for the two sides to reach an agreement, and even a way of further cooperation was conceived. However, with the detention of Božović, practically everything was put aside. At the beginning of March, a meeting was organized, which was managed by Božović, and then practically an agreement was reached that "Lovćen film" will continue to manage the cinema, but under the conditions that the local administration put on the table, which was accepted by the other side. However, nothing has been done since then... and since the Municipality remained silent even after several letters to "Lovćen film", an urgent request was sent to the local administration to hand over the space in TQ Plaza as soon as possible.
They buried the hatchet
At the meeting held in March, which was chaired by the President of the Municipality Božović, an agreement was reached with "Lovćen Film", which stipulated that the two parties would conclude all court disputes they have.
Also, the representatives of the Municipality and "Lovćen film" then agreed that, except in one dispute, each party would bear court costs. As the third item of the agreement, "Lovćen Film" renounced to initiate disputes against the Municipality in the future. It was agreed that "Lovćen Film" will return all business premises, terraces in TQ Plaza that have not been put into operation to the Municipality, which it will use in the future.
This agreement also accepted the request of the Municipality, which insists on discounting prices for children and young people at certain times, especially on weekends, and introducing a larger number of free screenings. Also, the Municipality insisted that dates be set during working days where ticket prices for film screenings will be 20 to 30 percent lower, which was accepted. Also, the Municipality's request to coordinate the socially useful program for citizens with the Secretariat for Social Activities, so that they could make certain suggestions, was accepted. The increase in the subsidy, which is linked to the increase in wages, has been canceled and a more favorable model is being negotiated.
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