All investors who lease state land by decision of the Assembly for periods of up to 90 years will be able to resell and in other ways alienate the buildings they build on that land, it was stated in the amendment to the Law on State Property and the amendment submitted to the Assembly by the representative of the "Evopa" Movement now" Vasilije Carapić.
The current law provided for this only for tourist complexes that are built on leased state land, and if the proposal is adopted, investors who invest in all other activities as well - production, trade, transport, storage...
So far, investors have had such lease contracts for Tutist complexes on Sveti Stefan and Miločer, two on Luštica, the island of Mamula and in Kumbor - Portonova.
With the second amendment, Čarapić proposes to delete from the existing law the obligation to automatically submit to the State Prosecutor's Office such contracts relating to state property of greater value.
The current law states: "Concluded contracts on the acquisition and disposal of immovable property and movable property and other goods of greater value in state property are submitted to the Protector, the State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro and the State Audit Institution, within 15 days from the date of certification." Now they would only be submitted to the protector of property and legal interests of the state and the State Audit Institution.
The current Article 39 of the Law on State Property, which Čarapić's amendment seeks to change, reads: "When the object of the lease is land on which the construction of a hotel-tourist complex is planned, the lessor can give consent to the lessee-investor to alienate the building built on that land, in accordance with the planning documentation and contract.
His amendment states that after the word "complex" the words are added: "that is, land leased for up to 90 years by the decision of the Assembly", which would mean that the possibility of alienation - sale of built buildings on state land would apply to all investors.
Greater rights for all, not just for some
Čarapić told "Vijesta" that this possibility would be used for future lease contracts, as well as that he proposed this norm because of the interest of investors from other industries, not just tourism, to invest in Montenegro.
"Foreign investors who come want to have security and to protect their investment. If someone were to get the right to lease state land for 30 or 90 years and make a multi-million dollar investment in production, storage, trade..., why wouldn't they also have the right to register these facilities on their own? For example, if 'Lidl' wanted to come and lease land until it develops a business, why would it be controversial to buy it from the state later", said Čarapić.
He says that this change in the law would not apply to the tenants of Sveti Stefan, Miločer, Luštica, Mamula... because they are all hotel-tourist complexes whose investors, both the existing law and the lease agreements at the time, allow them to sell buildings built on state land. and the land under those buildings.
When asked why he is proposing to amend the law, which would no longer be the obligation of the Government to send the State Prosecutor's Office such contracts for the lease of state property of greater value, Čarapić says that this norm has been unnecessary until now and that it is a matter of practical alignment with the competences of the State Prosecutor's Office.
"The protector of property and legal interests of the state will have these contracts and will be able to check them. It is not necessary that there is an obligation in advance to send the contract with the foreign investor to the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor's office will continue to have the authority to initiate the verification of such a contract upon application or on its own initiative if there are any doubts, but it is not good to immediately expose the investor to a mandatory prosecutor's investigation," Čarapić told "Vijesta".
Privileged received five locations from DPS
During the period of DPS rule, the Assembly leased state land five times for more than five years. These are contracts for the lease of Sveti Stefan, Miločer and Kraljičina Beach to the company "Adriatic Properties" of a Greek businessman. Petros Statis, which underwent several changes through the reduction of rental prices and the extension of the rental period. With this contract, Statis got the opportunity to build apartments and villas in Miločerski Park, which it can sell on the market.
Then there were similar contracts for the lease of a large land complex of seven million square meters in Luštica to the company "Orascom", and to the same company the island of Mamula with the fortress. Similar contracts also exist for the second part of Luštica, which was leased to the company "Norda Star", about which arbitration was initiated, as well as for the former military barracks in Kumbor, where the Portonovi settlement was built, where the investor provides built apartments and land with beaches.
In the explanation of the amendment, Čarapić states that he proposes to amend the Law on State Property in addition to the already established exception when it comes to the construction of a hotel-tourist complex on state land.
"The fact that the lease of certain land by the lessee went through the procedure and was approved by the Parliament of Montenegro in the form of a decision is in itself a sufficient reason to leave the possibility that the facilities built on such land can be alienated after the lease expires. In this way, the economic development of Cme Gora as a serious destination is additionally encouraged, with the guarantee of the Assembly of Cme Gora itself, because the proposed amendment to the Law refers only to those leases approved by the Parliament of Montenegro - up to 90 years, which in themselves are the definition of serious intentions of investors". stated Čarapić.
In the explanation of the amendment on deleting the State Prosecutor's Office from the obligation to send concluded contracts, it is stated that they will continue to be sent to the protector and the SAI.
"Taking into account the fact that this law does not provide for further action by the State Prosecutor's Office in connection with the contracts submitted, and that the competences of the State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro are determined by Article 134 of the Constitution of Montenegro, it can be concluded that the State Prosecutor's Office is not competent to act in in accordance with the provisions governing civil and administrative matters, which is why this norm needs to be amended", stated Čarapić in the explanation of the amendment.
The basic amendment to the Law on State Property was prepared by the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, and they are based on raising the limit of the value of contracts that can be entered into by the Government without seeking the consent of the Parliament from the current 150 to 300 million euros, as well as that the lease of land for the construction of sustainable energy sources should be carried out according to the new law regulating the use of energy from renewable sources, which was proposed as a package with this law.
Luštica is an example of an investor doing well with a lease
The fact that it pays for investors to first lease state land and later have the option of selling the built facilities and that land is best illustrated by the example of "Luštica Development", a daughter of "Orascom", which is building several tourist and residential areas on seven million square meters of state land. marina, golf courses...
When the contract was concluded, this land, which had no infrastructure, was valued at 80 euros per square meter. If it had been sold, the investor would have had to cash in 560 million euros, which is a lot of money for any investor.
Instead, an annual rent of about one million euros per year was paid, which is gradually increasing. That is, about 11 million euros were paid for the first ten years of the lease.
When "Luštice development" sells apartments and villas, it also sells a part of the land under those buildings to the buyer, and the state receives 80 euros per square meter of land, even though the prices per square meter of apartments and villas are over ten thousand euros. On this basis, the state gets a fraction compared to the investor, and to the current market prices of attractive locations in Luštica. The same rules apply to the sale of buildings in Miločer or Portonovo.
However, the state gets attractive tourist and residential areas, where it should also have a significant collection of various taxes.
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