The invitation of the Public Enterprise (PE) for the management of the coastal zone to the second-ranked bidders in the tender to conclude lease agreements for seven beaches on Velika Plaza has put an end to months of uncertainty over whose hands a significant part of one of the most beautiful beaches on the South Adriatic will be in for the next four years.
The Arab billionaire's "Eagle Hills" company Mohamed Alabara, which offered the highest amounts of money for a total of nine bathing sites, officially withdrew from seven of them on Thursday, June 12, when it was reportedly the last deadline to conclude lease agreements with the PE.
According to "Vijesti", the second-ranked bidders in the tender, namely the current tenants of the "Adriatica", "Havana", "Safari", "Saranda", "Hills", "Coral" and "Mykonos" beaches, were severely affected by Alabar's withdrawal, as they had to pay off his company's bank guarantees, which were not small.
The PE previously announced that the bank guarantees of "Eagle Hills" for nine beaches on Velika Plaza amount to 600 thousand euros. According to information from "Vijesti", for some of them the guarantees amounted to more than 100 thousand euros.
However, according to unconfirmed information from "Vijesti", Alabaro's company has concluded a lease agreement for the "Tropikana" beach, one of the first officially registered since Morsko dobro began renting out the coast for use.
The fate of the ninth beach - "Imperial", for which "Eagle Hills" also offered the highest amount of money in the tender, is not yet officially known - whether the Arab billionaire has given up on it as well. "Vijesti" previously reported, according to unofficial information, that the offer of the second-ranked bidder was not complete and therefore he would not be able to conclude a lease agreement with the PE if "Eagle Hills" withdrew.
In an interview with Newsmax Balkans television in mid-May, Alabar admitted that he had made a mistake by applying for the tender for the lease of the beaches, but he also explained his reasons for such a decision:
"I wanted to get a swimming area on Velika Plaza to show the public how this area can be developed," the Arab investor said at the time.
He also explained that after harsh public reactions, he decided to return all the bathing areas that he had previously won in a tender in March.
"Morski dobr" previously announced that bank guarantees for nine beaches amount to 600 thousand euros.
The interlocutor of "Vijesti" said that after concluding a contract with the public company, the tenants will have a hard job ahead of them:
"The procedure for obtaining a work permit is very complicated and it is certain that it cannot be completed quickly."
The Coastal District previously told "Vijesti" that the tender procedure was conducted entirely legally and transparently, without unrealistically high or fictitious bids being submitted.
"This has fulfilled all the conditions for, in the event of the first-placed bidder withdrawing, to proceed smoothly with the conclusion of the contract with the second-ranked participants. At the same time, the procedure for activating the bank guarantees submitted by the company 'Eagle Hills', in the total amount of approximately 600.000 euros, will be initiated, thus ensuring the protection of the public interest and responsible management of state resources."
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