The locations where the preparatory works for the construction of the new hotels "Galeb" and "Jadran" were supposed to begin this summer also serve as parking spaces from which investors and tenants collect significant money.
Thus, new investors continue with the practice of previous ones - breaking the deadlines for starting works and putting new hotels into operation, and bearing in mind the dynamics of adopting additional plans and projects and the dubious financial possibilities of one of them, it is not impossible that in two elite locations in the city and next season could be parking lots.
Parking is also at the third elite location in the city - the "Velika skela" below the Old Town, where locals and tourists got free parking spaces this summer instead of a ground-floor space worth a million euros.
At the beginning of this week, the Public Enterprise for the Management of the Marine Asset "Vijesti" announced the answers to the questions of when the works on the construction of the "Galeb" and "Jadran" hotels should begin, whether the new investors have already broken the deadlines and whether they needed it consent of the Maritime Dobr to open a parking space.
Despite the optimistic announcements, construction work on the "Seagull" cannot begin before autumn next year because the documentation has not been completed, i.e. the main project is pending.
Investors for "Jadran" are not officially advertised for now, despite the assumptions created for the preparatory works, which, according to the assessment of certain senior officials in Ulcinj, raises doubts about their financial and personnel potential.
"It seems that every government carefully chooses its strategic investors", a well-known architect from Ulcinj tells "Vijesti" Valon Buzuku who from 2011 to 2014 was the secretary for urban planning in the Municipality of Ulcinj.
He claims that in 2012, the Municipality adopted all the necessary documents for the start of work on both locations, but that the investors at the time had other plans.
He points out that even the current investors had no reason to ask for a change in the urban planning and technical conditions, which led to the postponement of the start of work on "Galeb", and he is of the opinion that after so much time of agonizing over the location on the Suka peninsula, it is now out of place to build a new "Jadran" ".
The promised deadlines have long since been broken
At the beginning of June 2022, the government established a proposal for a contract on accession to the investment obligation between HTP "Ulcinjska Riviera" and the Kotor company "Sunny Palace", which is to build the "Galeb" hotel. Director of a Kotor company Radoica Vuković After the 2022 season, he told "Vijesta" that the construction of the new five-star hotel "Galeb" could begin in 2023, and that it could be put into operation four years after that - in 2027.
The people of Kotor previously bought an attractive plot of land above the Suka peninsula in Ulcinj from the Podgorica company "Rokšped" and assumed the obligation to build the new "Galeb".
Vuković then said that "Sunny Palace", although it assumed the obligation of the previous owner - the company "Rokšped", according to the state - to invest more than 15 million euros, will invest many times more in the construction of the new hotel.
However, the company requested a change in the urban planning and technical conditions at the request of potential hotel operators already in mid-2023, since, as they said then, the existing conceptual solution was exceeded, so the start of construction of the new hotel was announced by the relevant ministry for the end of this year.
In the Kotor company, before this season, they stated that the development of the main project, after the adoption of the urban plan, would be shortened from 18 to 12 months, and that the works could start 90 days later. This means that, in the best case, the works could start in the fall 2025, and the hotel was commissioned in 2029
In addition, before the summer they announced that on the location of the future hotel, which also includes the area of the swimming pool and the existing parking lots, preparatory works were planned in the form of terrain research and the creation of geomechanical studies, as well as the removal of existing buildings, so that everything would be ready for the start of work when they acquire the formal and legal conditions for that.
When it comes to "Jadran", the annex to the contract concluded in April 2023 created the conditions for the start of preparatory works, but to date there has been no construction. "Vijesti" was not able to get in touch with the investor to get information about the investment.
"Royal" bought the company "Star of Montenegro" in early 2023 and assumed the obligation to build a high-class hotel with accompanying facilities. Since the end of 2008, "Star of Montenegro" had a contract with Morski dobro on the use of state land.
In April 2023, the Government announced that Annex IV of the contract between Morski Dobr and the company "Royal" from Priština had been signed, which indicated that all the necessary conditions had been created for the valorization of the site of the former hotel "Jadran" in Ulcinj and an investment worth more of 40 million euros.
The annex was signed by the director of the Maritime Property Mladen Mikijelj and the owner of the company "Royal" from Pristina Arber Krjeziu, and the then prime minister was also present Dritan Abazovic, then Minister of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism Ana Novaković Đurović, then Minister of Finance Aleksandar Damjanović, former president of the Municipality of Ulcinj Omer Bajraktari...
Nimanbega opens up awkward questions
The Government stated at the time that the signing of Annex IV of the contract will enable the investor to enter into the preparatory works for "the construction of a hotel which, with a globally recognized brand, will be one of the most luxurious on the Montenegrin coast. The most beautiful locality in the municipality of Ulcinj, where the "Jadran" hotel used to be, was trapped in numerous administrative obstacles for years.
"We worked day and night to change that situation, and I am proud that, mostly with the efforts of the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism and Maritime Affairs, we managed to overcome all those problems and sign this contract today," Abazović emphasized at the time.
However, the president of the Municipality of Ulcinj Genzi Nimanbeg, in a recent interview with "Vijesta" he said "that as far as the location of the Jadran hotel is concerned, there is a doubt that the announced investors do not have enough human resources or financial resources for the announced project".
"This will be one of my priority issues immediately after the season. I will raise many questions regarding this contract, not only when it comes to construction, but also the way this location is managed, because it is unclear how such a location can be used for a parking lot instead of a hotel," said Nimanbegu.
Architect Valon Buzuku said that in 2012 they brought a small detailed urban plan "overnight" in order to create the conditions for the start of the construction of a residential building in which all the families that have been taken care of since the earthquake in 1979, up until 7- For 8 years, they lived in prefabricated houses on the site of the former hotel "Jadran".
"That was a prerequisite, together with the adoption of the urban planning project for that location, for the start of the construction of the 'Jadran' hotel on the Suka peninsula," said Buzuku.
He reminded that the same was true for the location of the "Galeb" hotel.
"We fought wholeheartedly to bring that urban project, which we adopted in 2012, by which we removed all the obstacles to the unhindered bringing of the location to its intended purpose, and we were all hoping that it would come to that," said Buzuku.
However, the state remained silent the entire time despite the imperative provisions of the contract, and this status quo, says Buzuku, was maintained until a few years ago, that is, until the change of government in 2020.
"With the change of government, there was also a change of investors for those two locations. There was hope that the implementation of these projects would finally begin. The investors also asked for changes to the plan, for reasons unknown to me, even though they had excellent projects. A particularly good urban project for the "Galeb" hotel, which is still in force, is the work of a well-known Sarajevo architect. Faruk Kapidzija. The new investor shyly tried to publicize some of his new solutions, which I, as an architect, did not like at all and criticized. But, let's wait a little longer", said Buzuku.
Invested only in the toll booth
When it comes to "Jadran", Buzuku says that on the island of Suka, which is managed as a social asset, and which was given to the investor for use, only the lifting ramp for parking fees was invested.
"And the payment works perfectly. We are witnessing that the parking lot was taken from the Ulcinj 'Parking Service' and now the strategic partner collects serious revenues from the parking lot, until the location is brought to its intended use. I will not speculate as to whether and when the state's new partner in this business will start implementing the investment, but I still think that the cat has a lot of beef and I will stop there", said Buzuku.
The municipality and the state, he emphasized, should think carefully and perhaps abandon the construction of a hotel on that very valuable location, which in the future can be used for social purposes as a center of cultural and artistic events, with a strong semi-closed summer scene and a large underground parking on two or three floors, which would solve the big problem of parking for the entire part of the city during the tourist season.
"Also, those beautiful ridges that descend towards the sea on the southern side can be used for a beach that would be exploited undisturbed by everyone, both citizens of Ulcinj and tourists. In that location, the maritime museum of Ulcinj could be envisaged, which is very much needed by our city, as a symbol of the preservation of our famous maritime tradition. This is how we temporarily gave it to a foreigner who is currently using it as a source of collecting serious financial resources through parking fees", said Buzuku.
He assessed that the construction of a hotel at that location lost its purpose with the construction of a series of smaller or medium-sized hotels in the immediate vicinity, at Pristan and on the slopes of Pinješ. Also, he stated, in the contact zone of the location there is the hotel "Mediteran", the future hotel "Galeb", and a little further on the hotel "Albatros".
"It's just necessary to get out of the comfort zone, each of us, especially those who decide and make decisions on behalf of all of us, and to start thinking in the direction of satisfying the public and social interest, beyond the personal. We need to defend what is right, not what brings us benefits at a certain moment," Buzuku points out.
Strategic investors were looking for partners at the fair in Munich
Buzuku reminded that in 2013 he met both strategic investors at the investment fair in Munich, where the Municipality also participated.
"With brochures in their hands, they were looking for investors and some other partners for the realization of their projects, in locations that the state allowed them to privatize or lease and where they were obligated by contract to realize that investment themselves within a certain period. It was clear to me at that moment that there was nothing to come of it, and that those hotels would have to wait for better times," says Buzuku.
The big scaffolding is a symbol of the irresponsibility of the authorities
Work on the ground floor decoration of the "Velika skele" began in October 2022, and the deadline for the realization of the project was 120 days. After that, the Municipality announced that the project would be completed by the beginning of last season, but that deadline was also missed. Since then, no one officially mentions deadlines and dates.
"Vijesti" asked the Maritime Administration why the work on the ground floor arrangement of the "Velika skela" was not completed this year, and when this state-owned company will implement the project in its entirety. The answer is announced for the beginning of the week.
Valon Buzuku said that the realization of the project on the "Big Scaffold" has become a symbol of ignorance, arrogance and irresponsibility of the competent public institutions in charge of monitoring and realizing that project.
"I strongly doubt that something like this can happen in any other municipality in Montenegro, especially when working in a zone that is indirectly connected to the Old Town and connected to that zone," said Buzuku.
Morski Dobr, which finances the project, announced at the beginning that the investment for the first phase exceeds the figure of 800 thousand euros, and for the second, almost one million euros.
"News" was told in Morski Dobr in February of this year, among other things, that the project entered the second phase of paving, after which it was planned through the plan for using financial resources for the year 2024 to rehabilitate the foundations of the "Big Scaffold" after receiving the urban planning technical conditions and preparation of technical documentation.
The planned use of this area, which covers a total of 4.600 square meters, is a square-dock with a green belt next to the rocks at the foot of the Old Town. With the implementation of the project, Ulciinj should get a border crossing at sea for the first time.
Buzuku said that before demanding the responsibility of anyone from the outside, one should look at one's own yard.
"And to see if we did our homework, which we didn't. The great Serbian intellectual of the last century, Duško Radović, once said: 'The problem of illiteracy has been solved, every illiterate person got an adviser and a secretary'. I'm afraid that we, as a city, are seriously sliding towards that phenomenon. The bearers of political life in our city have a great responsibility to prevent this phenomenon, and this can be prevented in only one way - for the first collaborators, you should always choose someone smarter than you. The situation in our country has been reversed for a long time now... wobblers and mediocrity are a better option. And that's why our results are the way they are", said Buzuku.
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