Budva blocks land on the promenade

The Municipality of Budva, or rather its Local Public Revenue Administration, has blocked one of the most attractive plots in the very heart of the city, on the promenade, of more than 5.000 square meters, on which construction of a future five-star hotel has begun, because the Belgrade company "ALK nekretnine" has not paid 91 thousand euros in real estate taxes.

This is stated in the real estate list that "Vijesti" had access to, and which states that a mortgage was registered on the plot on June 17th.

"Mortgage in favor of the Municipality of Budva in the total amount of 91.824,31 euros. The registration is made based on the decision on securing the tax claim of the Local Public Revenue Administration," the cadastral records state.

The Municipality was forced to take this step a year ago, when it also registered a mortgage on the same plot due to unpaid real estate taxes, which still stands as a burden on this property. In mid-September last year, a mortgage in the amount of 84.600 euros from the Local Public Revenue Administration was registered as a burden, which has not been deleted.

An underground garage has already been built on that plot, and construction of a five-star hotel is scheduled to resume in October, when the municipal decision to ban construction expires.

The "President" hotel, as stated on the company's website, is planned to be built by mid-2027.

"Hotel 'President' is a five-star hotel located in the epicenter of Montenegrin tourism. This hotel is expected to be completed by May 2027 and will provide guests with a luxurious and unforgettable experience," according to the website of the Belgrade-based company, which has established its subsidiary in Montenegro.

The hotel will be located up to the third floor of the building, while the apartments, according to the company's website, will be located from the fourth to the ninth floor.

"The tenth floor is exclusively reserved for penthouse apartments. The hotel will have 88 hotel rooms and suites, with an additional 66 suites available for purchase," the company's website states.

The Local Public Revenue Office registers mortgages on the property of companies as a way to ensure that the company will settle its tax obligations. This is one of the ways, which the law allows, for the Municipality to ensure that it will collect its obligations from tax debtors. The list of tax debtors is considerable, and the Municipality fills almost half of the city's coffers from the collection of real estate taxes, collecting over 20 million euros annually, which is a secure source of income for it, guaranteeing financial stability.

On the other hand, the Municipality has good cooperation with the Belgrade company, because the underground garage, as "Vijesti" was told by several sources, will be rented this summer, in order to make up for the missing number of parking spaces in the center. Although there is no official confirmation from the Municipality yet, at the very entrance to the construction site, the municipal company Parking Servis has set up a toll booth.

Administration headed by the Mayor Nikola Jovanovic announced that several construction sites in the first city zone, along the promenade itself, where hotel construction has begun, will be leased and converted into parking lots, which will be managed by Parking Service, and will provide several hundred additional parking spaces.

For years, during the peak summer season, in the very center of the city, it has been practically impossible to find a parking space, which is why guests of the tourist metropolis have nowhere to park their four-wheelers, so they are forced to do so in side streets towards the outskirts of the city. The municipality aims to provide the missing number of parking spaces by concluding contracts with investors due to the abolition of two parking lots near the Old Town, and by enabling the residents of Stari Grad to park their cars near the “Mogren” hotel. One of these has already been reached with a company that is building a five-star condo hotel near the central kindergarten, about a hundred meters from the Old Town, the construction site of which will be converted into a parking lot with 50 spaces.