Kolašin has not made any progress in addressing the challenges that are slowing down the realization of significant investments in luxury tourism. Although hotel capacities are in an advanced stage of construction, their opening is being delayed by the lack of municipal infrastructure, water supply, sewage and waste water, electricity and transport, the construction of which is under the jurisdiction of the state, but has not yet been fully completed.
As part of the economic citizenship project, nine luxury hotels are being built in the Municipality of Kolašin in locations that are not equipped with municipal infrastructure (roads, construction of atmospheric and sewage networks, water and electricity networks, transformer stations for electricity supply...)
From the Municipality of Kolašin, led by the President Petko Bakić (Democrats), did not respond to questions from "Vijesti", which related to the status and deadlines for infrastructure works necessary for the opening of hotels on Bjelasica and in the Breza settlement, solving sewage and road problems, as well as the amounts allocated by the Municipality for these projects and the money the Municipality receives from the economic citizenship program.
This situation, some investors claim for "Vijesti", has significant financial consequences.
The new plan for completing the construction of "Bjelasica 1450" is August next year, but, as he says Blagota Radović, owner of the company Zetagradnja, which is building the facility, "on the condition that the conditions for connection to the communal infrastructure (water supply, sewage and sewage, electricity, traffic) are met as soon as possible, the construction of which is the responsibility of the State of Montenegro in cooperation with the Municipality of Kolašin."
A MEETING WITHOUT EPILOGUE
The work on this hotel, which is being built as part of the economic citizenship project, was supposed to be completed in August of this year, as the Ministry of Regional Development told "Vijesti" a few years ago.
According to the construction schedule, the new planned completion of the hotel construction works is scheduled for August 31, 2026, provided that the conditions for connection to the municipal infrastructure (water supply, sewage and waste water, electricity, traffic) are met as soon as possible, the construction of which is under the jurisdiction of the State of Montenegro in cooperation with the Municipality of Kolašin.
"If the missing infrastructure is provided by this deadline, which we are not sure about, there would be nothing objectionable from our side if the planned opening deadline is met. However, without basic infrastructure, water, electricity, sewage and roads, we can only talk about the planned deadlines. At the end of May, at my request, a meeting was organized with all ministers responsible for this area and representatives of the Municipality of Kolašin, however, the whole story ended at this meeting, since then we have not had any feedback," Radović told "Vijesti".
He explains that the hotel is currently undergoing interior design work in accordance with the requirements of the Radisson Blue brand. Radović says that they have been providing and paying for pellet heating for the hotel for the third year in a row to prevent deterioration and damage to the installed equipment.
"If we could connect the hotel to the infrastructure at this moment, we would need a maximum of 90 days for everything to be fully equipped and put into operation. Construction work on the facility in question is behind schedule compared to the previously planned completion schedule, solely due to the inability to connect to the utility infrastructure, which is a prerequisite for conducting technical and other regular tests of the installation network within the facility," explains the investor.
He reminds that the location where the hotel is being built lacks all infrastructure. The construction of the hotel began five years ago, and as he claims, none of the infrastructure has been resolved during that time, "although these problems were known even before the Government of Montenegro launched the Economic Citizenship Program."
"As far as we are informed, the projects have been partially completed, the water supply project without the artificial snowmaking project and without the wastewater project, so now the completion of these projects is being done. In the meantime, a group of four or five citizens is blocking the construction and implementation of the water supply project. The state does not have the capacity to deal with this, even though it is a matter of public and strategic interest for the development of Kolašin and the entire north, for the complete tourist offer. And so on indefinitely, and until when, no one knows," says Radović.
BUYERS ARE LOOKING FOR APARTMENTS
"Zetagradnja" has not analyzed a detailed assessment of the damage caused by the delay in opening the hotel, but Radović says that it is a multi-million dollar amount. Among other things, he reminds that the contract with the renowned international Radisson Blue, which is coming to Montenegro for the first time, and as the agreed deadlines for opening the hotel are slowly expiring, is threatened with termination and payment of penalties.
"Customers who purchased units in the hotel through the Economic Citizenship Project send daily inquiries about when the hotel will be completed, when they will be able to take over and dispose of the apartment they purchased, and threaten to terminate the purchase agreement, which would mean a refund of 250.000 euros per apartment, plus interest. Just imagine having to explain to a foreign and global brand and foreign buyers that you cannot open a hotel because in the 21st century, a tourist city lacks basic communal infrastructure," explains Radović.
He claims that "cooperation with the Municipality of Kolašin has always been correct, but this is not an issue that the Municipality can resolve, but rather is within the jurisdiction of the Government and relevant ministries, and I repeat, there are funds in the budget, or at least there were."
Just imagine when you have to explain to a foreign and global brand and foreign customers that you cannot open a hotel because in the 21st century, a tourist city lacks basic communal infrastructure, says Blagota Radović.
“MONTIS BY SPLENDID” POSTPONES OPENING TO 2027.
Similar problems exist when it comes to the completion of the "Montis by Splendid" works, which are also dictated by the construction of communal infrastructure, the currently missing sewage and water supply networks, as well as appropriate roads.
The Ministry of Regional Development previously told "Vijesti" that, according to the Business Plan, the hotel should be completed no later than September 30th of this year. However, in February, the investor approached the department with a request to extend the deadline for the completion of the facility by an additional 12 months.
The company "Montenegro Luxury Hotels & Resort", which is the investor, now reiterates to "Vijesti" that "the dynamics of construction are aligned with the dynamics of the implementation of key infrastructure solutions that are under the jurisdiction of state institutions." Accordingly, they expect the hotel's doors to open to guests only in 2027.
"Our goal is to avoid a situation in which a fully completed hotel would wait for the provision of basic conditions for operation. In accordance with current plans and expectations that the infrastructure prerequisites will be met, we plan to complete the hotel in the first half of 2027. The biggest challenges faced by all investors in Kolašin concern slow administrative procedures and the lack of supporting infrastructure, primarily traffic, sewage and water supply," the company explains.
Montenegro Luxury Hotels and Resorts says that "many hotel and residential projects have been launched in Kolašin in recent years, but the accompanying infrastructure has not kept up with this growth to the same extent." This, they explain, is also evident in the inner city area, where construction of several high-class hotels is underway, the future functioning of which directly depends on resolving water supply, sewage and access roads.
Accelerate public infrastructure work
"Montenegro Luxury Hotels and Resorts" say that the Municipality has recently begun the implementation of a new road, for which the construction deadline is 18 months, while a project for a wastewater treatment plant is also being prepared, which would finally resolve the issue of existing lagoons in the immediate vicinity of our hotel.
"We believe that the projects that have begun will proceed as planned, and that the joint work of all stakeholders will provide stable preconditions for the functioning of investments and further development of the destination," they expect from the company building the hotel.
The facility is located in the immediate vicinity of the “lagoon” into which the city's wastewater flows. The investors say that they “positioned themselves as partners with the local government from the start and, within our capabilities and capacities, supported certain initiatives of the municipal authorities.”
"Together with other investors, we donated technical documentation for the construction of a road and bicycle path through the Breza settlement. We believe that a partnership approach and regular communication are the key to the long-term sustainability of this destination. Kolašin is developing rapidly and a common understanding is needed that public and private investments must be synchronized so that the result is functional, sustainable and beneficial to the entire community," concludes Montenegro Luxury Hotels and Resorts.
They say that "the priority of the state and the municipality should be the accelerated upgrade of public infrastructure in line with the standards of modern tourism in areas with great investment potential such as Kolašin, and all this must be accompanied by improving administrative efficiency."
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