A group of citizens requested the return of tens of millions of nationalized land on Cape Zavala near Budva.
It is about 68 square meters of land on the peninsula that was nationalized almost 70 years ago, and as they claim from the group of citizens "Legitimate owners of the Zavala peninsula", it has not been put to use.
The former owners want the Law on Eliminating the Consequences of Property Confiscation in the Valdanos Bay to be applied in their case, which the Parliament passed three years ago in order to return the nationalized land to the owners in the Ulcinj Bay.
This, among other things, is written in the initiative that "Vijesti" had access to, which was submitted by a group of citizens to several parliamentary clubs and government departments.
According to the documentation, the state nationalized the property of the 13 Rafailović families in 1958. The heirs point out that the land was never used and that during the introduction of the new cadastre in 1995, it was registered to the state and the Municipality of Budva.
"Vijesti" previously wrote that during 2006, the company "Moninvest", in which one of the founders was the fugitive head of the Budva criminal group Svetozar Marovic, bought almost four hectares of land in Zavala from the Medin and Anzulović families.
The Rafailovics state that they only found out that they were not the owners of the sedge after reselling plots worth millions. Since 2007, they have been conducting several court cases for the return of property.
"It is unclear to this day on the basis of which legal transaction, by which decision or expropriation, the former plot of land 632/1 Kratnji Maini cadastral municipality, which today corresponds to 12 cadastral parcels, became the property of the state and handed over to the Municipality of Budva. The competent Real Estate Administration Budva allegedly does not have in its possession the documentation for the plots, that is, it does not have records of how and in what way the state was registered as the owner of the property, because individuals and courts have repeatedly appealed to the Administration to provide the chronology of registration. The administration replied in a letter that they do not have documentation in their archive from the first registration, that is, from the public presentation in 1995", it is written in the letter delivered to parliamentary clubs and state departments.
The land is not used
The heirs see the basis for the return of the property in the fact that the land is not used for commercial purposes to this day. In Zavala, apart from the luxury settlement, there is currently only one facility, and it is for temporary purposes - a controversial plant for the processing of seawater. The citizens therefore request that the lex specialis that was passed for Valdanos be applied in their case, with the adoption of which the Assembly in June 2021 enabled the return of nationalized land. The municipality of Ulcinj confiscated the land by decision from 1978, and it was never used, i.e. brought to its intended purpose...
"The acquirer of the property, except for the person obliged to return it, who, after securing the property, acquired the right of ownership in accordance with the law, remains the owner and holder of the thing, and his acquired rights must not be violated. It is not possible to demand the return of fruits, nor compensation for damages based on lost profits due to the impossibility of using or managing the subsidized property, as well as on the basis of its maintenance in the time from the day of subsidization to the return of the property. The obligee of restitution does not have the right to request the return of the revalued value of the compensation received by the former owners, nor the market or any other value for the confiscated property", it is written in articles 3 and 6 of this law.
The citizens' initiative recently reached the Parliamentary Committee for Tourism, Agriculture, Ecology and Spatial Planning, and its president and deputy of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) Dejan Djurovic announced that he would propose consultative hearings on this issue. He clarified that he will do it because it is an identical situation as with Valdanos, because these citizens were also planned to be paid at "ridiculous" prices during the "one-party system", as he said.
"It is best if representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Administration or Agency for Property, Cadastre and the Ministry of Spatial Planning come. A Detailed Urban Plan (DUP) is being developed there, which would make it impossible for these owners, who are in the process of reclaiming their land, to completely return their property. And in order not to harm our citizens, regardless of the fact that the President of the Assembly announced the Law on Restitution of Property, regardless of whether it is private individuals or religious communities, I would suggest that this consultative hearing be held as soon as possible and that the adoption of the DUP be postponed for a certain period of time Zavala. There, the investor in question, Zavala, recarded the gross construction area by 20.000 square meters, for which utilities were not charged. We will launch an initiative with the Municipality of Budva to collect utility bills", Đurović pointed out and added that he will explain everything at the meeting.
Today, the owner of the resort "Dukley" on Zavala is the American company "Stratex Group".
Nothing from "Jedra"
According to the existing Urban Planning project for the "Tourist Village of Zavala", on the remaining green part of the peninsula towards Budva, the construction of a 141-meter high skyscraper, a 40-story hotel, which the previous owner of Zavala, the Russian "Mirax Group", was named as Hotel " was previously planned. Sail”. However, according to the draft of amendments and additions to this urban project, which was recently presented by the Ministry of Spatial Planning in cooperation with the Municipality of Budva, it is now proposed to create special purpose green areas, parks and amphitheater at that place.
"On the urban plot in question, park facilities with different functional purposes, an amphitheater complex for various cultural events in Budva, with garden-architectural elements that can also be museum-like - the so-called cultural center" are provided in this document.
In addition, that document states that the gross developed construction area of the existing villas amounts to a little more than 52.000 square meters, while according to the urban plan from 2008, they are planned to occupy 32.000 square meters.
The heirs object to these changes and the plan and demand its withdrawal, because they claim that the construction of parks and amphitheater will make it impossible to valorize and use the property they are trying to get back before the courts.
They point out that the authorities did not carry out a detailed analysis for the residential villas that the investor "Stratex Development", as they allege, was illegally built, which, they say, is confirmed in the plan.
"It is clearly illegal behavior of the investor who was given the unique opportunity to work in this locality, and here there are undeniable facts that he abused the given rights in order to obtain property benefits, as well as the fact that the specific proposed Nact is trying to legalize that abuse without any legal consequences . Any further action by the competent ministry with the aim of adopting such a plan is illegal, and as such causes direct damage to the real owners, but also to the Municipality and the state, against whom we will be forced to initiate new proceedings for damages and satisfaction of our rights", this group emphasized.
As "Vijesti" previously wrote, the Rafailovics initially demanded the return of their property, but the Municipality, while it was governed by mayors from the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), proposed an out-of-court settlement and payments of 700 euros per square meter, in order to lower the price. at 495 euros. However, the Rafailovics were not respected even then.
At that time, the disputed land complex was managed by the municipal, controversial company "Budva Holding", one of Marović's failed projects. That company on two occasions then called for tenders for a strategic partner for the construction of a luxury hotel with 27 floors similar to "Jed". In August 2008, a tender was announced for the establishment of a "Joint Venture" company, to which the offer was submitted by two companies, of which the first-ranked one came from "Zavale Invest", a joint company Sergej Polonsky and "Moninvest", in which Marović was a co-owner.
Among the mayors of this city, who changed and until now promised the Rafailovics the return of their property or payment, Rajko Kuljaca, Lazar Radjenovic, Marko Carevic, but none of them fulfilled their promise.
Katnić scouted
The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), headed by Milivoje Katnić at the time, investigated reports of possible appropriation of state property in the Municipality of Budva and the disappearance of cadastral documentation for property worth several tens of millions of euros.
Criminal charges, due to abuses at three attractive locations in Budva, were filed by the former Vice President of the Government of Electoral Trust Milorad Vujović, in November 2016.
"The census sheets and decisions of the commission from the public exhibition for the locations of Zavala, Potkošljun, Jadranski sajam have disappeared, so the evidence on the basis of which the initial state of the cadastral records is formed," Vujović told "Vijesta" at the time.
These three locations have been the subject of numerous investigations and disputes.
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