No tender yet, tenants dissatisfied

This is no good, says Gani Resulbegović, the tenant of part of Mala Plaža in Ulcinj...

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Small beach (archive), Photo: Samir Adrović
Small beach (archive), Photo: Samir Adrović
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The Public Company for Coastal Zone Management (PK) has not yet announced a tender for the lease of the bathing area, which deepens the fear of current tenants that last year's scenario, when they were in a no-show position, could be repeated.

Tenant of part of Mala Plaža in Ulcinj Gani Resulbegović He said that the whole story is not optimistic.

"This is no good. We don't know at all what will happen, whether the competition under the new rules will go smoothly, or, I fear, there will be tension and arguments. We are still waiting for that tender, but I have the feeling that someone is trying to kill any will in us to rent and work, because this delay is not the first time," Resulbegović told "Vijesti".

The Ulcinj Beach Tenants Association told "Vijesti" yesterday that they still have no information about when the tender might be announced. They state that they expect to meet with representatives of the public company during the coming week, after which, as they say, more details should be known:

"We know that everything is in the procedure, but nothing has been adopted. We have also been to the Mayor's office, but he does not have any more detailed information either."

Last year, the JP failed to announce a tender for the lease of the bathing area on time, so it was forced to extend all contracts until the end of the summer just before the pre-season. This, however, had an impact on the quality and course of the season, as the tenants were already far behind in their preparations, while it was difficult to secure seasonal labor.

The tender was then postponed to October, but even at the end of November, the PE was not discussing a precise date when the public auction could be announced.

In that company, headed by Mladen Mikijelj, then in response to questions from "Vijesti" they announced that the tender cycle would be carried out after fulfilling the legal prerequisites, i.e. the adoption of a document containing the locations of bathing areas and locations for the installation of temporary facilities in the coastal zone.

They reminded that, in accordance with the law, the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property adopts the Program of Temporary Facilities in the Coastal Zone, which, after adoption, is implemented by the company for locations planned on cadastral plots in state ownership. They also stated in their response that it is necessary for the Government, in accordance with the Law on Coastal Zone, to adopt a decision regulating the conditions, time of use of the Coastal Zone and the amount of compensation.

In the response of the PE, it was also written that the company is intensively working on the Atlas of Montenegrin Beaches and Beaches and the Amendments and Supplements to the Program of Temporary Facilities.

"The Public Enterprise, the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property and the Government of Montenegro are making every effort to ensure that the tender procedure begins as soon as possible," they responded at the end of November.

When asked on the basis of which article of the Law on Maritime Domain or internal act the PE plans to revoke the points for the tenants of the Velika Plaza beach, which they have so far had based on the property in the hinterland of those beaches and the investments made during the decades of lease, the PE emphasized that the Law does not define mandatory criteria for the evaluation and evaluation of bids.

"The evaluation is already being carried out based on the criteria established in the tender documentation. They are contained in the aforementioned Decision adopted by the Government in accordance with the Law on Maritime Domain," the response read.

The PE claims that there will be no privileged parties in all future tender procedures, and that the perception of the current lessees that this is a right to lease parts of the maritime domain that belongs to them in advance or that they have a pre-emptive right is wrong and that it is necessary to correct it.

They pointed out that the Methodology for the purpose of developing a new Price List for the lease of the maritime domain was prepared as a scientific and research document.

When asked based on which article of the Law on Maritime Domain or internal act, the PE plans to open a series of bathing areas on Velika Plaza and introduce new tenants to the part of the property that is now owned by long-term tenants, who did the infrastructure themselves, the PE pointed out that bathing areas are planned and categorized by temporary documents.

"Since the beginning of the lease, since the establishment of the PE, the interventions and boundaries - the area and length of the bathing area, have been changed several times, so this is not a new phenomenon, but a document that is subject to change, i.e. a new planning system, by which the state plans the space for transfer for use. The public calls in 2019, in which all previous users participated as bidders, defined that the locations were transferred without installed facilities and infrastructure, and all bidders were informed that they were obliged to equip the locations they lease with infrastructure themselves."

The Association of Ulcinj Beach Tenants said at the time that the previous period had been non-transparent.

"The coastal area should be looking for a partner in us, not hiding from us. There is talk that points based on investments, property in the hinterland of the beach and even the Blue Flag will be abolished. Well, those points have been saved for us by decades of investments because there are those of us who have been here for 20 or 25 years. We need an agreement to mutual satisfaction, not coercion. That is why I appeal to us to sit down as soon as possible and solve the accumulated problems so that we do not end up in a time limit for preparing for the season like last year," said the president of the Ulcinj Tenants' Association at the time. Prelja Škrelja.

He stated that he has nothing against competition, but that the PE does not understand that the new scoring method, or the allocation of bathing areas to new tenants, could cause problems.

"How, for example, will a tenant, if another one comes, be paid for their previous investments and fairly compensated? No way. We have worked hard for years to build infrastructure on the beaches and to keep it functioning, continuous investments are necessary. We know that we are only tenants, we have not put our paw on it, as some say, but how does JP think to bring someone else in to do everything. Who will give them electricity, water, where will they go, which roads?"

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