"Saint Stephen has no price", "Stop the sale of Saint Stephen", "History is not for sale", "It has not been for sale since 1442", these are the messages from today's protest of the locals, which was held on the waterfront in front of the city of the "Sveti Stefan" hotel.
Locals are outraged after the latest sale of the shares of the company "Sveti Stefan hoteli", which manages that trademark of Montenegrin tourism.
"We oppose the further sale of shares. The private entity MK Properties, a related party to Aik Bank, has crossed the threshold of 30 percent ownership of the shares of Sveti Stefan. Now, according to the law on the takeover of companies, they are obliged to send the other shareholders an offer for the purchase of shares, i.e. an offer to take over Sveti Stefan hoteli AD Budva at the price of their last transaction. The danger of Sveti Stefan being taken over by private individuals is greater than ever before. Theoretically, this can happen if, for example, the PIO Fund decides to sell its shares or the Employment Agency of Montenegro, which is not impossible, especially in today's atmosphere of everyday politics, when citizens' attention is drawn to non-essential things," said local resident Blažo Kažanegra.
He said that for a long time their group of citizens has been asking the state to send private shareholders an offer to buy their shares.
"However, something the opposite happened - private individuals are now sending the state an offer to buy its shares. This is an unprecedented shame and an unprecedented humiliation for Paštrović and the whole of Montenegro. Due to the negligence of the state, we have come to a situation where we have completely lost our national treasure, our national symbol, our national dignity. We urgently request that the Government of Montenegro, i.e. the Ministry of Finance or another competent body, pass a decree prohibiting state entities from selling their shares in the company Sveti Stefan Hotels, as well as to introduce the institute of the right of pre-emption in favor of the state, because it is a matter of law a protected cultural asset," Kažanegra said.
Bonus video:
