It doesn't take any special knowledge of economics to conclude that renting out umbrellas, selling hamburgers, drinks, and ice cream on them is not some epochal business idea that could attract such a powerful investor, and that it is obvious that there is some other, much larger, economic or other interest hidden behind it.
This is what an economist from Ulcinj told "Vijesti" Skender Elezagić assesses that the company "Eagle Hills", backed by Arab capital, wants to enter the Montenegrin market by leasing beaches in the southernmost Montenegrin municipality.
This company, which operates in several countries in the region, is chaired by Mohamed Alabar.
The Ministry of Tourism did not respond to "Vijesti" yesterday about the benefits for the most important Montenegrin economic sector and the city of Ulcinj. The tourism committee of the Chamber of Commerce (PKCG) does not want to comment on this topic either.
"The essence and character of these hidden intentions also determine whether there will be negative consequences for Montenegrin and Ulcinj tourism and what their extent will be. What can already be said with certainty, taking into account the quite certain appeal procedure and the possible reaction of the previous tenants, is that there is a very high chance that Ulcinj will welcome this season with beaches that will be unprepared to receive bathers. This would be tantamount to a cataclysm for the entire economy and all citizens of Ulcinj, and it would certainly have significant negative consequences for the entire Montenegrin economy," Elezagić assessed.
Arabs give 19 million for 1,8 beaches
The Arab company that built the famous “Burj Khalifa” building in Dubai and the “Belgrade on the Water” complex in Serbia registered a subsidiary in Montenegro, “Eagle Hills Montenegro”, on March 6, while five days later, on March 11, the bids for the Ulcinj beaches were opened. According to unofficial information from “Vijesti”, confirmed yesterday from several sources, the Arab company submitted bids for as many as 19 beaches in Ulcinj with a total value of 1.884.125 euros. The Public Company for Coastal Zone Management has yet to evaluate all the bids, and the key condition for someone to win is the amount of rent, which carries 75 out of a possible 100 points.
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Sources of "Vijesti" said that "Eagle Hills" submitted the highest bids for more than 10 beaches, while some will escape it because other bidders gave higher figures. The highest monetary bids, which was officially confirmed to "Vijesti" by the president of the Association of Beach Tenants in Ulcinj Prelja Škrelja are given for the iconic Ulcinj beaches: "Saranda", "Adritaica", "Imeprial", "Hill", "Mojito", "Habana", "Safari", "Tropikana", "Koral", part of "Pearle Beach", "Barbose".
"The Coastal Property collected a total of 2019 euros from the lease of all Ulcinj beaches in 1.052.000, while the "Eagle Hills" offer for 19 beaches alone amounted to 1,8 million euros," the "Vijesti" source states.
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This outcome of the bid opening yesterday caused strong reactions in the public, especially in the Municipality of Ulcinj and the Albanian parties in parliament who are in a meeting with the Prime Minister. Milojko Spajić and Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property Slaven Radunović demanded the annulment of the contracts and the annexation of existing contracts. The participants of the meeting, led by the Mayor of Ulcinj Municipality Genzi Nimanbeg It was pointed out that there have been no failures in the implementation of the tender so far and that the Government sees no grounds to cancel it.
"But if someone believes that there has been a violation of regulations and can prove it, she is ready to consider it," the prime minister replied.
After the meeting, Nimanbegu told reporters that they had not yet thought about the prosecutor's office, "but we will certainly think about what we should do in that direction."
SDT awaits criminal charges
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", no one has yet filed a criminal complaint with the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) regarding alleged irregularities in beach lease tenders.
One of the interlocutors of "Vijesti" claims that they did not form the case on their own initiative, but also that they do not want to respond to daily "calls" to investigate alleged illegalities.
The Coastal District has called on the prosecutor's office to investigate offers worth millions for the lease of beaches in Budva, because, as they stated, they suspect that the astronomical figures "are not the result of rational business decisions"...
"We call on the Special State Prosecutor's Office to get involved in checking whether these offers are the product of a desire to launder money or deliberately make the tender procedure meaningless, or are they really the product of a rational business decision. We will make a decision on further action in cooperation with the relevant Ministry and the Government of Montenegro in order to preserve the integrity and legality of the entire procedure," the state-owned company announced three days ago.
Minister Radunović's department is also silent about the alleged illegalities, from which "Vijesti" yesterday asked the editorial staff to seek answers from the Coastal District Administration regarding the million-dollar bids and suspicions that tenders with old tenants are being re-arranged.
Elezagić says that the entry of well-known and powerful investors is a major event for developed countries, and not for the small and underdeveloped market of Montenegro, which has positive repercussions on overall economic flows.
"However, in our conditions, this refers to the situation when these potential investors come and invest money in serious, large development projects and the construction of luxury missing tourist capacities, for which there is not enough capital and investors on the domestic market who can present such projects. This is certainly not the case with the lease of several beaches on Velika Plaza. There is quite enough interest and experience among domestic businessmen for the lease of beaches and the provision of services on them. After all, the general assessment is that the Ulcinj beaches, the offer and services on them, were the brightest spot and the best part of our tourist product," Elezagić pointed out.
The Ministry of Tourism did not respond to questions from "Vijesti" about the economic benefits for the country that "Eagle Hills" could bring to the Montenegrin market, and in particular, what benefits could there be for domestic tourism and the city of Ulcinj, as well as whether they see any negative aspects of "Eagle Hills" entering the Montenegrin economic market. The Tourism Committee of the Chamber of Commerce (PKCG) did not respond to these questions either.
"We conveyed to Prime Minister Spajić the joint statements of the Albanian Forum, the Albanian Alliance, the Democratic Union of Albanians and the Municipality of Ulcinj that this tender and the tender outcomes are unacceptable. I think we were clear and loud enough why we think this is against the interests of Ulcinj, I will call this a sea landing on Ulcinj by an investor who was founded five, six days ago and you have problems in other municipalities as well regarding those million-dollar offers. Therefore, this is yet another proof that we need to think more about our citizens, and not go into something that is not in the interest of local communities under some legal forms," Nimanbegu told reporters.
Prophet Mehmed Zenka said that "it's not a big philosophy to answer the question of whether a billionaire should sell deck chairs and umbrellas or whether there is something behind it."
"They are encroaching on the 50 million euros that citizens and tenants have invested in Ulcinj over the last 20 years. They are encroaching on the most developed sector of Ulcinj and Montenegro, and overnight someone comes and occupies 4,5 kilometers. Overnight people leave with huge investments, who have been investing for 10-15 years, they don't know what to do with it... How will a new investor manage to put the beaches in order, something that took people up to 15 years to do," emphasized Zenka, who also said that they had requested that the Law on the Marine Domain be changed, which is a request from all coastal municipalities.
There is no legal basis for the cancellation of the tender.
The Prime Minister's Office announced after the meeting that Spajić emphasized that the tender is open and transparent, that the rules are clear, and that the interests of the citizens of Ulcinj and Montenegro come first.
"It is important, first of all, that the local community is satisfied, but also that everything is legal. Based on the information so far, there were no procedural shortcomings in this process. On the other hand, we understand the concerns of part of the local community and we are open to further dialogue that would include potential new tenants," said the Prime Minister.
Representatives of the local government, led by the Mayor Genci Nimanbegu, repeated their demands to cancel the tender, annex the existing lease agreements, and enact a new law on the Coastal Property, as the current one has been in force since 2008.
"The government does not see any legal basis on which the tender could be annulled, but if someone believes that there has been a violation of regulations and can prove it, it is ready to consider it," the prime minister replied.
He suggested that if the Municipality representatives consider it necessary, they should engage in a dialogue between all interested parties, in order to properly welcome the upcoming tourist season.
Minister of Urbanism, Spatial Planning and State Property Slaven Radunović pointed out that the start of the opening of bids confirmed that it was necessary to innovate the tender process because the state will have many times greater financial benefits than last year based on rental income alone, which he will inform the public about upon completion of the procedure.
Locations for which "Eagle Hills" has made offers
"Eagle Hills" made an offer to lease the beach area marked as 10E (location Velika plaza, length 170 meters) whose minimum seasonal lease price was 69.445 euros, with an offer of 108.000 euros.
For the lease of a part of Velika Plaza (location 10F) with a length of 266 meters and a minimum price of 68.350 euros, the Arab company's offer was 106.000 euros.
He also competed for the lease of a part of Velika Plaza (location 10G), the length of the beach is 173 meters, the minimum price is 62.255 euros, with a price of 97.000 euros.
For the lease of a part of Velika Plaza (location 10 H) with a length of 165 meters and a minimum price of 52.396 euros, Eagle Hills Montenegro's offer was 81.500 euros.
For a part of Velika Plaza (location 10 I) 140 meters long and a minimum price of 40.097 euros, this company submitted an offer of 62.500 euros, while for the lease of the neighboring beach (location 10 J) 100 meters long and a starting price of 30.320 euros, the foreign company's offer was 47.000 euros.
An offer was also submitted for the lease of a 10-meter-long part of Velika Plaza (location 1N20), the starting price of which was 2.327 euros, and it was 3.625 euros, while for the beach on Velika Plaza (location 10N2), where as many as nine offers were received and where the starting price was 28.952 euros, the Arab company offered 45.000 euros.
For the 10-meter-long beach on Velika Plaza (marked 308K), with a starting price of 124.945, this company's offer was 194 thousand, and as confirmed to "Vijesti", it was not the highest.
For the beach on Velika Plaza (location 10 L) with a length of 304 meters and a starting price of 110.112,5 euros, the offer of "Eagle Hills Montenegro" was 181.000 euros, while for the beach (location 10M) whose starting price was 107.990 euros, the offer of the Arab firm was 168.000 euros.
The offer from "Eagle Hills Montenegro" was also submitted for a part of Velika Plaza (location (10N), 232 meters long and a starting price of 58.022 euros, of 90 thousand euros, while for a part of Velika Plaza (location 10O) 260 meters long and a starting price of 94.5897 euros, it amounted to 147.000 euros.
For the beach on Velika Plaza (location 10 Q) whose starting price was 49.657 euros, "Eagle Hills Montenegro" offered 77.000 euros, for the beach (location 10P) 205 meters long, with a starting price of 56.820 euros, the offer was 88.500 euros, while for the beach 260 meters long and a starting price of 82.440 euros, the offer was 128 thousand euros.
"Eagle Hills Montenegro" made an offer of 91.500 euros for the lease of a bathing area on Velika Plaza (location 10R1) whose starting price was 58.770 euros, and also competed for the lease of a neighboring bathing area (location 10R2) whose starting price was 40.602 euros, with an offer of 63.000 euros.
The Arab company also caught the eye of a part of Velika Plaza (location 10S1) with a length of 200 meters and a starting price of 46.653 euros, for which it offered 72.500 euros.
Although it submitted bids for 19 beaches on Velika Plaza, "Vijesti" has determined, after reviewing the other bids, that it is unlikely that "Eagle Hills Montenegro" will manage to obtain half of those it is interested in, because the bids of this Arab company for individual beaches are smaller than those of other bidders.
Councilors of the Civic Movement URA in the local parliament yesterday submitted a request to the President of the Municipal Assembly Ivana Popović to urgently convene a session regarding, as they stated in the initiative, the situation that arose due to the tender for the rental of beaches.
Constitutional Court to rule on tenants' initiative
Yesterday, Nimanbegu called on the Constitutional Court via Facebook to urgently rule on the initiative and urgency submitted by the tenants of 20 beaches in Ulcinj.
"This is especially true since it is a matter of public interest, and any decision that would aim to prevent further illegal actions by the Government and the Coastal Zone, which would have harmful consequences for the citizens of the Ulcinj municipality."
In their initiative to the Constitutional Court, the tenants of Ulcinj's beaches claim that the Coastal Zone's acts for announcing the tender were adopted based on a law that has ceased to exist, namely the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of Facilities.
The decree promulgating the new Law, issued by the President of the Republic, Jakov Milatović, was published in the Official Gazette on March 04th.
"Article 146 of that law, paragraph three, states that the program for temporary facilities will be adopted within 12 months from the date of entry into force of that law. With the adoption of that program, programs adopted on the basis of the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of Facilities cease to be valid," the initiative reads.
He's offering six million for Valdanos, and his account is blocked.
from Ulcinj Arben Nimanbegu He offered an unreal six million euros for the lease of a beach in Valdanos, even though in the annex to the 2023 contract concluded with Morski dobro, he set aside an amount of 15.500 euros for the same location, excluding VAT.
This was told to "Vijesti" by several sources who are participants in the tender.
"His offer earned 75 points based on price. The second-ranked offer was from the company "Valdanos Z&M", which offered 28 thousand euros, and the third-ranked offer was from the company "Explorer" with 45.000 euros. "Valdanos Z&M, according to the scoring method, received 0,35 points on price and plus 2,5 points on the account of references. "Explorer" earned only 0,56 points," said a source for "Vijesti."
According to data from the CRPS, Nimanbegović is registered as a businessman who carries out the activity of beach furniture under the name "Sur Valdanos". He was registered in April 2019, and deleted on January 15, 2020. He remains indebted for 8.792 euros, which creditors are trying to collect through forced means.
He then renewed his registration again in June 2021, and this debt still remained.
The "Vijesti" interlocutor assessed that this, as well as recent cases in Budva when certain VV and SP also served the commission with offers worth millions for the lease of the "Coco-Beach" and "Lučica" beaches, is in fact an outsmarting and game by the previous tenants to keep the locations.
"The cunning games of the previous tenants to keep the locations, such as the case in Ulcinj and Budva when astronomical prices were offered, are not new in the tender procedures of the Coastal Zone for the lease of bathing areas, as this has happened in all previous years, especially where it was "shaggy", he said.
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