After the Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property at the end of last year Slaven Radunović rejected the request of "Fab Live" that the government department issue them a usage permit for the aparthotel "Tre Canne" on the Budva promenade near the Adriatic Fair, the Podgorica company submitted a request again, but to the Budva Secretariat for Urban Planning to obtain a permit for their luxury complex.
That municipal department, as confirmed to "Vijesti", has resubmitted the request to the competent ministry for decision-making.
"Fab Live has applied to the Secretariat for Urban Planning and Sustainable Development with a request for the issuance of a usage permit for an apart hotel. No attachments were submitted with the request in question, but since it was determined in previous procedures that the building permit for the apart hotel was issued by the relevant ministry in accordance with legal regulations, we are submitting the request to the competent authority," reads the document that was submitted to Radunović's department for a new decision.
The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property has refused to issue a usage permit twice in the past six months, due to what was stated to be formal reasons.
The apart hotel has not had a use permit for years, but it has received annual permits to carry out hospitality activities and has regularly generated tourist traffic.
The last request that "Fab Live" submitted to that government department on November 22nd last year for the issuance of a usage permit was rejected at the end of December, because the Podgorica-based company did not eliminate the identified deficiencies within the given deadline.
Radunović's department requested that Fab Live provide them with the number and date of the building permit issued for the apartment complex, as well as the documentation required for issuing a usage permit under the construction law on the basis of which the building permit was issued.
The municipality has been refusing to issue a usage permit for years, because the issues surrounding the payment of millions in utility bills have not been resolved. In August last year, the Secretariat for Urbanism and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Budva rejected a request from a Podgorica-based company to issue a usage permit for a 14-story apartment hotel and two buildings that make up the “Tre Canne” complex. As explained at the time, the company submitted an incomplete application, because it did not have the technical documentation prepared.
It was the seventh time that the municipal secretariat rejected the request of "Fab live", which submitted new requests again and again.
The “Tre Canne” complex includes a 14-story central tower housing an apart-hotel and two other eight-story buildings built right next to the Adriatic Fair halls. The municipality and the company have never resolved the issue of utility payments, which has also led to a court case.
In 2019, the Supreme Court rejected the request for revision, thereby upholding the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the Podgorica company's lawsuit demanding that the Municipality pay it almost 2,1 million euros in damages because the local government failed to issue it a usage permit for the complex.
In mid-November 2018, the Appellate Court rejected the company's appeal as unfounded and confirmed the Commercial Court's verdict that the Municipality was not obligated to pay "Fab Live" the amount of 1.824.170 euros, with statutory interest of 253.786 euros, as compensation for material damage in the form of lost profits.
The company "Fab Live" sued the Municipality for compensation for material damages in the form of ordinary damages and lost profits, as well as non-material damages due to damaged business reputation.
The dispute arose because the luxury business and residential complex "Tre Canne" cannot obtain a use permit, since the Municipality, as the company claimed, did not fulfill its contractual obligations, which is why the investor sued.
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