Stop doing business with a bank close to Vučić

The Government of Montenegro suddenly, and without further explanation, withdrew the consent it had previously given to the company "Luštica Development" from Tivat to establish a lien on the right to use a nautical tourism facility - a marina with a coastal promenade in the tourist resort Luštica Bay, in favor of Alta Bank from Belgrade.

The lien was to be established as a means of securing the repayment of a loan in the amount of 15 million euros, which “Luštica Development” intended to take out from that bank.

Because the controversial legal deal was not implemented, "Luštica Development" did not take out a new multi-million loan from a Belgrade bank that the local media is linking to the Serbian president's regime. Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party. The ties between Alta Bank and the Vučić family are the subject of frequent political accusations by the opposition in Serbia and the region. Opposition parties claim that the bank's owner, a businessman Davor Macura, a front and "financial wallet" for President Vučić and his brother Andrei, which the authorities in Belgrade deny...

On July 26, “Vijesti” reported that the Government had received a request for approval to establish a lien on the right to use the marina with a coastal promenade in the Luštica Bay tourist resort. By establishing a lien on the right to use this state-owned property, which is currently owned by “Luštica Development”, Alta Banka would ensure that the Montenegrin company developing the luxury tourist resort Luštica Bay near Tivat will repay its loan of 15 million euros.

At the time of publication of this text, the conclusions drawn by the Prime Minister's Office had not yet been published on the Government website. Milojko Spajić (PES) adopted regarding this request, when it was decided on at a telephone session held on June 29. However, it later turned out that the Government accepted the request of “Luštica Development” on that day, which implies that the Belgrade bank establishes a lien that would guarantee that, in the event that “Luštica Development” does not repay the loan within the agreed deadlines, it will become the user of the marina and coastal promenade with several built facilities on cadastral plot 111772 KO Radovići in Tivat, with a total area of ​​18.000 square meters.

Just two days after “Vijesti” published information that “Luštica Development” had sought the government’s green light for this controversial arrangement, Prime Minister Spajić’s cabinet, again in a telephone session, on July 28th, changed its earlier decision, so the government annulled the conclusion of June 29th and thus did not allow the company to mortgage state-owned land, namely the marina with a coastal promenade built in the heart of the Luštica Bay complex, under a bank mortgage. The explanation of the Decision on the annulment of the conclusion of June 29th does not state the specific reason for which the government subsequently decided to take such a step, but only states that “certain legal and factual circumstances have arisen due to which the basis for the further existence of the registered lien has ceased, and that it is necessary to carry out the procedure for its deletion from public records”.

An inspection of the cadastral data in which the subject plot 1117/2 is registered shows that there is no registration of that Alta Bank lien, nor was any active request for registration of such a burden submitted to the cadastre during the period when the Government's prior consent for its registration was in force (from June 29 to July 28).

They confirm that they do not have any credit arrangements with Alta Bank, but do not answer questions.

Yesterday, the company "Luštica Development" briefly told "Vijesti" that they confirmed that they currently do not have any credit arrangements with Alta Bank.

The company, whose majority owner is the Egyptian-Swiss consortium "Orascom Development", but in which the Government also holds slightly less than 10 percent of the shares, did not answer the question of how many credit arrangements have been signed so far, when and in what value "Luštica Development" has signed with Alta Banka Belgrade as a creditor, and what collateral has been issued for them. It was also not answered why "Luštica Development" does business specifically with Alta Banka Belgrade as a creditor of its business activities in Montenegro, or why it does not take loans from commercial banks in Montenegro, Switzerland or Egypt, as the countries of origin of the company "Orascom Development".

Whether doing business with Alta Banka Beograd, in the context of its very pronounced connection in the Serbian public with the local regime and the Serbian Progressive Party of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, could have negative repercussions on the business image of the company "Luštica Development", or the entire Luštica Bay project, is a question to which "Vijesti" also did not receive a concrete answer.

Alta Bank did not respond to a question regarding their previous business and credit cooperation with "Luštica Development" and the latest arrangement under which they were supposed to obtain a lien over the use of attractive Montenegrin state property - the marina.

The Ministry says that the conditions have not been met, but does not specify which ones.

From the Ministry of Urbanism, Spatial Planning and State Property (MDUP), headed by the Minister Slaven Radunović (New Serbian Democracy), upon whose formal proposal the Government on June 29th gave a later withdrawn consent to "Luštica Development" to borrow against state property, said that the company from Tivat submitted to them "a request for consent to establish a lien on the right to use a nautical tourism facility - a marina with a coastal promenade, as a means of securing the planned credit arrangement with Alta Bank AD Belgrade".

"Acting on the submitted request, the Ministry of Development and Infrastructure carried out the prescribed procedure, obtained the opinions of relevant institutions and prepared the material for decision-making by the Government's working bodies. Considering the importance of continuing the investment cycle and implementing the project of interest to Montenegro, the Government expressed its readiness to enable the implementation of the planned credit arrangement, with clearly defined conditions that needed to be met before the implementation of the legal transaction in question. However, since the company 'Luštica Development' did not implement the activities that the Government determined as a condition for the implementation of the given consent, the conditions for implementing the conclusion in question were not met," explained the Ministry of Development and Infrastructure.

They did not specify what the specific “conditions that needed to be met before the implementation of the legal transaction in question” were, but such a thing (and that it refers to the company “Luštica Development”) does not exist in the Government’s conclusions of June 29, when it agreed to this loan deal. At that time, the Government in its conclusions once again ordered the Ministry of Tourism to immediately launch a tender for “appointing a firm or internationally accredited accountant, with significant experience in the tourism sector, to assess whether the minimum investment obligations have been fulfilled, in relation to the provisions of the Lease and Construction Agreement relating to Luštica Development”.

Likewise, in the conclusions, Radunović's MDUP is obliged, after receiving the report of the controller, who has not yet been appointed, to "initiate the negotiation process for concluding an annex to the Contract with the Project Company (Luštica Development - ed.). This contract was concluded in 2009."

Namely, in mid-January, the government tasked the Ministry of Tourism, led by the Minister Simonida Kordić (New Serbian Democracy) to launch a new tender by the end of March 2026 at the latest for “appointment of a firm or internationally accredited accountant, with significant experience in the tourism sector, to assess whether the minimum investment obligations have been fulfilled, in relation to the provisions of the Lease and Construction Agreement relating to Luštica Development”.

However, the controller of the implementation of this investment, which is officially considered the largest foreign green field investment in Montenegro, has not been engaged to this day, although the Government stated six months ago that this was "an obligation that is necessary in order to adequately monitor the implementation of the project."

The Ministry of Interior Affairs told "Vijesti" that the Government had previously considered requests from the company "Luštica Development" which "related to granting consent for the establishment of a lien to secure credit arrangements, including arrangements with Alta Bank Belgrade."

Why don't they borrow from banks in Montenegro or Switzerland?

"In each individual case, decisions were made based on the submitted documentation, with the legally prescribed procedure implemented and consideration of all relevant legal, economic and development aspects. When making decisions, it was taken into account that its implementation has multiple significance for the development of tourism, improving the investment climate and strengthening the international recognition of Montenegro as an attractive tourist and investment destination. The Luštica Bay project represents an investment of strategic importance for the country and its development has contributed to the positioning of Montenegro on the international tourist market and the promotion of the country as a destination for sustainable tourism," Radunović's department announced, adding that the Government "has previously, when the conditions were met, given approvals that enabled the company to provide the financial resources necessary to continue the investment cycle."

"This is a loan in the amount of 8,3 million euros, with a maturity of three years and a grace period of 12 months, while the first hotel built in that complex was used as collateral, namely: hotel 'The Chedi Lustuca Bay' - building no. 1, on cadastral plot no. 1100/184, with a total area of ​​2.959 m2 and hotel 'The Chedi Lustuca Bay' - building no. 1, on cadastral plot no. 1117/21, with a total area of ​​3.411 m2," the MDUP specified.

Neither they nor Prime Minister Spajić's cabinet have answered our question as to why the Government, as a shareholder of the company "Luštica Development", has so far not insisted that the company take credit arrangements to continue its operations in Montenegro primarily from commercial banks in Montenegro, Switzerland/Egypt - as the countries of origin of the company "Orascom Development".

The question that remained unanswered was whether, in the Government's view, doing business with Alta Bank Belgrade, in the context of its very pronounced connection in the Serbian public with the regime there, could have negative repercussions on the business image of the company "Luštica Development", or the entire Luštica Bay project in which the Government is a shareholder, or the exclusive owner of all the infrastructure built in the meantime in the coastal zone.