"Žuti zec" company: There are still privileged beach tenants

Regarding the article “It is possible for Alabar, but not for Ilija”, published in “Vijesti”, in the issue of August 4, 2025, the company “Žuti zec” doo, a participant in the tender for the lease of the Ponta beach in Petrovac, reacted. We remind you that on March 10, in the first tender that JP “Morsko dobro” announced for the lease of Budva's beaches, for the popular Ponta beach, 39 meters long, with a minimum lease price of 20.957 euros, three offers were received: “Žuti zec” doo 89.002 euros, Neimar investment construction DOO Bar 30.000 million euros and “Ponta” DOO Petrovac XNUMX euros.

The public call for bids for the lease of this beach was then annulled, and the Administrative Court dismissed the lawsuit of the Budva-based company "Ponta Petrovac", which challenged the re-announcement of a tender for "Ponta" by the Public Company for Coastal Zone Management.

In its response, the company "Žuti zec" doo stated that they had carefully monitored the situation regarding the tender for the lease of Ponta beach and that they sincerely believed that "the years of privileged buyers and closed circles are behind us."

The response further states:

"Unfortunately, the experience with this tender shows the opposite - that the old rules are still being played out regardless of who the government officials are. We sincerely believed that the years of privileged tenants and closed circles of rules were behind us."

Namely, what happened? Three offers arrived at the tender: Neimar Investment - 1.000.000 euros, “Žuti zec” - 89.002 euros, “Ponta (previous tenant) - 30.000 euros.

Although "Neimar" was initially declared the winner, the withdrawal of their bid leads to an absurdity - instead of recalculating the points and taking the next highest bidder into consideration, the system is designed so that the old tenant, DOO Ponta, is automatically privileged, with a minimum price, thus eliminating any real competition.

To explain to the public in more detail, specifically using our example, "Morsko dobro" loses 59.000 euros per year, or 236.000 euros over the course of a four-year contract - and all this with the explanation that a guarantee of 20.000 euros was taken.

In that case, we have no choice but to ask the management of JP "Morsko dobro" if we learned the same mathematics in school, so that they can tell us which is greater, 20.000 or 236.000 euros?!

And to make matters even more absurd, both remaining bids were filled out incorrectly. In the case of "Neimar", the figure was erased with a corrector. In the case of "Ponta", the amount was corrected with a ballpoint pen.

Despite that, neither the first-instance nor the second-instance commission from "Morski dobro" had any objection to this. Both gave the same answer - that they "see nothing problematic", even though it was an obvious violation of the technical conditions of the tender. Maybe they really do not see anything problematic, because all of this together, apart from being problematic, is also shameful!

In addition, the former tenant, Ilija Armenko, immediately threatened us with words after the tender was completed, saying that he would "pay with his head", which is why criminal charges were filed against him.

What is additionally worrying is that while appearing on a television show, Armenko clearly and loudly stated that he had "cheated the system", practically admitting that he had directly participated in playing by the rules, and that he had a connection to the million-dollar bid that was only formally submitted in order to manipulate points.

Meanwhile, the company DOO “Ponta” continues to illegally use the beach, charge for sunbeds and sell drinks, even though the tender has been annulled and there is no valid contract. If there was true control of “Morski dobro”, such behavior would mean an automatic loss of points in the new tender.

We particularly emphasize our concern because information about our offer has apparently reached the competition. Despite everything, we expect that in the repeated procedure everyone will be treated equally, with consistent respect for the rules and principles of fair competition.

If the previous tenants are truly "patriots" and "victims of the system", let them show it with a realistic offer - and not by playing in the shadows and using loopholes in the regulations.

And let's be clear: this is not anyone's ancestral property, as Ilija Armenko likes to present, but our common coast and the right of all of us.

"In the end, citizens need to know only one thing, this is not about the beach, but about the principle," the company "Žuti zec" doo emphasized in its response.