ASP: This year's budget rebalance opens up space for the start of financing all remaining sections of the highway

The budget revision for this year opens up space for the start of financing all remaining sections of the Bar-Boljare highway, not just the Mateševo-Andrijevica section, which was only mentioned in the Budget adopted in January this year. The proposed Budget Revision also includes the expenditure for the start of the implementation of the public-private investment Lokanda in Cetinje, announced the Action for Social Justice (ASP).

The non-governmental organization (NGO) said that the Government adopted the budget rebalance this week and sent it to MPs for discussion and adoption, explaining the need for technical harmonization due to the amendment of the regulation on state bodies, as new ministries had recently been merged and formed.

"The budget for this year defines that the Bar Boljare highway construction project, the Mateševo ​​Andrijevica section, the Adriatic-Ionian Highway project and expressways will be financed from the Capital Budget, allocated to the Traffic Administration, while the projects will be implemented by Monteput, as the implementation unit.

The proposed Budget Rebalance now envisages that the Capital Budget will finance construction projects for the remaining sections of the Bar-Boljare highway, the Adriatic-Ionian highway, and expressways.

The rebalance retains the provision that the costs of constructing the Mateševo-Andrijevica section at the Transport Administration can be financed from revenues generated from so-called economic citizenship. This is money generated from the sale of Montenegrin passports to foreign citizens," the ASP statement said.

The budget rebalance also includes expenditure for the implementation of the public-private partnership project, they added, which the Royal Capital of Cetinje signed with a private partner for the construction of the Lokanda Hotel with an underground garage and the ground-level development of Artists' Square.

As stated, the project is being implemented through a special purpose vehicle established by a private partner, and the co-financing of the public partner is being done from the capital budget of the Ministry of Public Works intended for development projects of the Royal Capital.

The revised budget allocated 800 thousand euros for this expense in 2025, according to ASP.

"The royal capital of Cetinje announced at the end of March that it had concluded a public-private partnership agreement with the Herceg Novi company 'Talija Company' for the construction of the Lokanda Hotel with an underground garage and the ground-level development of the Artists' Square.

It was announced at the time that this was the first public-private partnership agreement concluded under the new Public-Private Partnership Law.

The investment implementation period is 30 months and includes the preparation of project and technical documentation, no longer than six months from the date of contract conclusion, and the execution of works, no longer than 24 months from the date of preparation of project and technical documentation. The operational period begins on the day of receiving the written consent of the Public Partner and lasts 30 years.

"The hotel should have 48 beds, a parking garage with 130 spaces. The investment is estimated at around 14 million euros," the statement concludes.