The recent storm caused extensive damage to the road to the Žarski ski resort, along the Bjelojevićka River. The damage occurred when the river overflowed its bed, and the Mojkovac Municipality is unable to repair it.
As the President of the Municipal Assembly (MA) reminds "Vijesti" Marko Janketić, the local government has repaired damage to that road several times so far. This time, he explains, they only managed to "return" the river to its bed, and they expect support from the Traffic Administration, which is the investor of the road, for assessing the damage and future activities.
"Due to the storm and heavy rainfall, a landslide occurred, causing a large amount of soil to fall onto the road. In addition, the river that overflowed its bed significantly damaged the road, as it is a fast-flowing watercourse. Unfortunately, we cannot repair the road this time, so we have notified the Traffic Administration of the damage. We are expecting the arrival of representatives of the Administration, who will assess the damage," says Janketić.
The roadbed, he reminds, contains pipes from small hydropower plants (SHP) being built on the Bjelojevićka River. Janketić says that the Municipality has repeatedly asked the Government not to grant concessions for the SHP, given the importance of the road and the need for artificial snowmaking from that watercourse. However, he cannot say for now whether the installed pipes contributed to the damage to the road. The cause of the major damage, he says, will be determined by representatives of the Traffic Administration.
In July 2024, the ruling majority councilors asked the government to terminate the contracts for the small Bjelojevićka 1 and Bjelojevićka 2 hydropower plants on the Bjelojevićka River. They argued that these energy facilities “endanger the biodiversity and capacity of the river, which would later be used for artificial snowmaking and water supply to ski resorts.”
"The decisive fact that no hydrological study was conducted for the needs of the Žarski Ski Center represents a real problem for opening the ski resort due to the lack of water for its needs. In the event of the possible start of operation of the small hydropower plant, there would be no possibility of water supply to the ski center, nor would there be the possibility of artificial snowmaking and creating an accumulation lake for the needs of the ski center," it was written in the explanation of the conclusion that will be sent to the Government and the relevant ministry.
They explained that the construction of energy facilities puts the road route to the ski resort in question, because the pipes of the energy facility are built into the road itself. They also believe that it is necessary to review the entire project of building a small hydropower plant on the Bjelojevićka River.
"Given that the strategic commitment of the municipality of Mojkovac is the development of tourism, it is indisputable that the hydropower plant project would threaten the opening of the Ski Center Žarski, and the fact that the Government plans to terminate the contract with the concessionaire for the opening of the Brskovo mine, precisely in the context of environmental protection and tourism development we believe that it would be necessary for you to terminate this contract as well", it says in the conclusion.
The contracts for the small hydroelectric power plant on the Bjelojevićka River, as claimed by the Mojkovac authorities, were signed "in a hurry" in October 2020, during the "technical" government of the outgoing government. The concession for this watercourse was previously given to the "Hydro Bjelojevićka" consortium, which consists of the Podgorica company "Čelebić", with a 54 percent stake, the football player Stefan Savic, with a share of four and “Synergy” with a share of one percent. In compliance with the provisions of the Concession Agreement, the concessionaire established the concession company C&S Energy, and Savić later transferred his ownership share to Milica Fustic.
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