The Municipality of Budva managed, while the Government did not give up on the sale of the privatization of the largest hotel company in Montenegro - the "Budvanska Riviera" Hotel Group, to once again overturn before the Court of Appeal the decision of the Commercial Court, which challenged the right of the local government to be an intervener in the proceedings. on the side of Budva Non-Governmental Association "Civil Action".
That association filed a lawsuit to determine the nullity of the Agreement on the transfer of shares from HTP "Budvanska Riviera" to the Government dated May 15, 1997, which unjustly deprived Budva of property worth one hundred million euros.
"The decision of the Commercial Court of September 20, 2022 is revoked and the case is returned to the court of first instance for retrial," reads the decision of the Appellate Court, which "Vijesti" had access to.
The Municipality of Budva contested the decision of the Commercial Court, considering that it has the right to be granted the status of intervener.
"Article 205 paragraph 1 of the Law on Civil Procedure stipulates that a person who has a legal interest in a lawsuit between other parties, one of the parties may join that party. Therefore, bearing in mind the cited legal provision, the conclusion of the Commercial Court is unclear that the Municipality of Budva has no legal interest in interfering in this litigation, but only an economic one..." the explanation reads.
"Civil action", i.e. its representative Bozidar Vujicic, she filed a lawsuit with the Commercial Court for determination of the contested agreement because, as stated, it was concluded contrary to Article 2 paragraph 1 item 20 of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government. Because of this, he sued the state of Montenegro and HG Budva Riviera.
In May of this year, the Court of Appeals also accepted the appeal of the Municipality and annulled the decision of the Commercial Court, which challenged the right of the local administration, and sent it back for a re-decision, with the suggestion that in the re-procedure it should eliminate all deficiencies.
When it comes to a specific case, the Municipality of Budva, as told to the News" in the Secretariat for Property Protection, is already taking actions, collecting documentation and assembling a legal and economic team that should prepare a well-reasoned lawsuit.
"Let's start slowly in a process that will probably open a Pandora's box regarding the obvious robbery of the citizens of Budva and everything that they have invested in this now state-owned company with their work and financial contributions over the years, which in the meantime has sold off its most valuable asset. We also expect that the prosecution will finally open that case, because they will most certainly encounter numerous abuses with elements of organized crime", said earlier in the department's secretariat.
From "Citizen Action", they pointed out in the lawsuit that the property, in the amount of about 160 million German marks, was invested in the "Budva Riviera" by the Municipality, i.e. the citizens of Budva, by paying taxes, contributions, fees, fees, ceding municipal land to the municipal budget, funds from self-contribution...
"The shares that represented state capital in the 'Budva Riviera' had to be transferred to the Municipality of Budva, not to the Government of Montenegro. Funds were paid from the budget of the Municipality of Budva, based on the decisions of the assembly, construction land was transferred, so that by means of the Agreement on the transfer of shares, that state property, which the Municipality of Budva has the right to dispose of and use, would be transferred to the Government of Montenegro... The government is the largest number hotels were sold out, the new owners often fenced off the hotels and registered public paths as internal paths, so that the citizens of Budva, although they allocated taxes, fees and other things to the municipal budget, in the end, due to the action of the Government of Montenegro, lost public roads. By canceling the agreement on the transfer of shares and transferring the shares of the 'Budva Riviera' from the Government to the Municipality of Budva, the municipality would easily settle all obligations to the Government of Montenegro and it would still have enough shares to improve and organize the living conditions of the local population and tourists", they stated from non-governmental association.
In the past two and a half decades, of the ten hotels of the "Budva Riviera" hotel group, five remained - "Palas" in Petrovac (four stars and 171 accommodation units), Tourist resort "Slovenska plaža" in Budva (three plus and four stars with 1.016 accommodation units), Hotel "Aleksandar" in Budva (four stars, 187 accommodation units), Hotel "Castellastva" Petrovac (four stars, 185 accommodation units) and Hotel "Mogren" in Budva (three plus stars, 49 accommodation units). The city hotel "Sveti Stefan" was excluded from the company two years ago, which was entrusted to the management of another government company "Sveti Stefan hoteli" AD.
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