"Kolašin 1600" still without a controller

The government has not yet appointed a controller for the construction project of the mountain center "Kolašin 1600", that is, an international company that would monitor investments during the first part of this work, although the obligation has existed since 2020. The Ministry of Tourism has so far announced at least four tenders for this supervision, three of which have been canceled, while a fourth, worth 40.000 euros, is underway.

This, among other things, is stated in the tender documentation for the selection of the controller, as well as in the report on realized investments for 2024 in connection with the long-term lease of the "Kolašin 1600" mountain center, which the Government determined at its session in early April.

The mountain resort “Kolašin 1600” is located near the state ski resort of the same name, and the Government concluded a long-term lease agreement for this location in September 2018 with the “Kolašin 1600” consortium, which consists of the Albanian “Gener 2” and “Ski resort Kolašin-1600”. The owner of the company “Ski resort Kolašin-1600” is the company “Ski resort-Kolašin 1450”, which is associated with Zoran Bećirović, while “Gener 2” is linked to an Albanian businessman Bashkim Ulay. The annex to this contract was signed in April 2019, because after measurements and a subdivision study, it was determined that the leased land area should be reduced by 33,6 thousand square meters.

Thus, the consortium pays 23.836 euros per year for the lease of 238.359 square meters, with 0,1 percent of the net actual annual profit, while they are allowed to sell real estate built on state land - with the obligation that the buyer pays the purchase price for the land to the state. The contract was signed for 90 years, and the "Kolašin 1600" consortium was obliged to build "Cluster 1" of the complex - namely the "S" hotel and the "Q" apartment building - within four years from the start of work, i.e. from August 2020 to the same month in 2024, and invest 12,8 million euros.

According to the signed contract, the Government had to appoint a controller for the implementation of the investment, while he would be chosen from four international firms: Deloitte & Touche Tohmatsu Limited, Ernst & Young, KPMG or PricewaterhouseCoopers. According to the report, the lease agreement entered into force at the end of 2019, while the deadline for selecting a consultant was two weeks from that date, i.e. early 2020.

"As an important contractual activity of the lessor, the appointment of an investment implementation controller was defined (the deadline for selection was 14 days from the date of entry into force of the contract). The controller should determine whether the minimum investment obligation in connection with the implementation of the construction of "Cluster 1" of the "Kolašin 1600" project has been realized by the lessee. In connection with this issue, the relevant ministry for the tourism sector undertook a series of activities in the reporting period, as well as in the previous period, towards the realization of the obligation in question. The fourth tender in a row for the selection of an investment implementation controller, with an estimated value of 28.925 excluding VAT, was published on April 11, 2024, and was canceled because the only submitted bid was incorrect. By the end of the reporting period, this open issue had not been resolved, so it will also be the subject of consideration at future meetings of the Interdepartmental Coordination Team, as well as at special meetings related to the project, which will be discussed in more detail in the next annual report," the report on investments for 2024.

"Vijesti" did not have access to the tender documentation before April 2024, but the Ministry of Tourism announced three more procedures for this job after that date. Thus, two tenders announced at the end of 2024 and last year were canceled, while the last one was announced at the end of April this year. This procedure will last until May 18, is worth almost 40.000 euros, and if the consultant is selected, he would have six and a half months to complete the job.

The report states that in February 2024, the Investment Agency reminded the tourism department that they had to hire a consultant, after which the then Ministry of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development formed a Commission to implement this public procurement procedure in March. At a meeting in the same month, it was concluded that the Ministry would consider allocating more money for this job, after which the documentation would be amended and the tender re-announced.

This did not happen, so after the April tender was cancelled, the Government in July 2024 tasked the Ministry of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development with issuing a new tender and informing the Privatization and Capital Projects Council and the Government accordingly. It is worth noting that in September 2024, the Ministry of Tourism informed the Government that they were working on amending the public procurement plan and that they would issue a tender after that. At the end of that year, at the second meeting of the Interdepartmental Coordination Team, it was announced that they had started this work in October 2024.

The continuation of other works depended on the construction of "Cluster 1", while the consortium "Ski resort Kolašin 1600" informed the Investment Agency in August 2024 that they had invested 25,42 million and built the "S" hotel, opening it at the end of 2023. At that time, they said that they had built the "Q" facility, but that there were no necessary water and electricity connections, so they asked the Government to provide them.

The consortium has since worked on other parts of the mountain resort, while independent auditors have conducted oversight of some of the hotels.