Yellow Rabbit: Armenko offered us money to give up the tender, Miklijelj was his protection

One of the bidders in the tender for the lease of the Petrovac swimming pool, the company "Žuti zec", reacted to the claims made in the article "More than half a million euros from the lease of the Petrovac Ponta".

They asked "when will the director of the Public Company for Coastal Zone Management, Mladen Mikijelj, reveal the truth," reacting to his statement that if the bidder with the million-dollar bid withdraws again, the tender will not be canceled and concluded with the company "Ponta Petrovac" owned by restaurateur Ilija Armenko.

"We are obliged to respond to the article from September 3.9, 2025 in "Vijesti", which states that Morsko dobro, after the second tender, will most likely conclude a four-year lease with the current tenant of the popular bathing area. If the first-ranked bidder withdraws - the guarantee will be charged, but the tender will not be canceled. Dear citizens, does this sound familiar to you? Well, it sounds familiar to us too! That's why we ask ourselves: when is Mladen Mikijelj telling the truth?

We remind the public that half a year ago, Mr. Mikijelj, in the show Okvir on the Public Service Broadcasting, guesting with Minister Radunović, clearly stated: “Every tender in which a million-dollar bid appears will be canceled.” He repeated the same sentence to us live in front of the Morski dobro building.

So what has changed, people? When Mikijelj is telling the truth - then or now? Because now, it seems, the rules are changing on the fly, as it suits everyone. Mr. Mikijelj even claimed that they 'collected every million-dollar offer that they felt was aimed at manipulation through a guarantee'. So, Morsko dobro is playing the role of a class teacher, 'educating' the tender participants by collecting guarantees because, well, someone is trying to game the system. But, watch out now: after they 'collected' and 'taught a lesson', they announced a second tender, clearly sending a message to the tenant Ponta: "Give a larger amount than last time, because that's how it should be.

Such an amateurish approach is nothing more than abuse of position. Especially when it is known that the closest relatives and friends of the current tenant Ponta participated in both tenders. Let's not speculate: the million-dollar bid in the second tender was made by the nephew of Ilija Armenko. His niece also participated in the same tender, and her husband was the million-dollar bidder in the previous tender. Family business in full glory! And while this circus of nepotism and corruption continues, the current tenant operates unhindered all summer, although the rules clearly state that until the public bidding process is completed, the beaches are public and available to everyone. Rules for some, privileges for others, so whoever has the stomach should just watch and swallow.

And then Ilija Armenko, the master of the system's deception, whines in the newspapers: how he "paid taxes handsomely", how he "invested a million in public goods", how he, the poor man, is a "victim of the system", and the only logical question in all of this is how it is possible that he invested millions, to break through a hill and turn a public good into an attractive bathing area, without ever being held accountable for the devastation of the coast, of course with the support of the ruling structures of the time?

Mr. Armenko's name-calling, that he was asked for money to give up the beach, leads us to ask him: 'Has he lost his sense of reality due to age or is he senile and does not remember that he was the one who offered us money to give up Ponta, of course, that happens when his threats do not go through. That is why this is an ideal opportunity to call on the competent authorities to investigate Mr. Armenko's business. In the end, we wondered who is behind Ilija Armenko. Today it is completely clear that he is being protected by the director of the Public Enterprise Morsko dobro, Mladen Mikelj,' the response concludes.