The State of Montenegro has sued the company "Morsko Dobro" and is asking the Commercial Court to cancel the contract that the state-owned company concluded with a private individual more than two decades ago without the consent of the Government and allowed it to use and register as the owner of more than 14.000 square meters in Tivat settlement Bonići.
In the lawsuit, which was submitted to the Commercial Court on Monday, the protector of property and legal interests Bojana Cirovic also requests that the court determine a temporary measure and forbid the company "Navar Incorporated" from Tivat to dispose of, alienate and encumber the disputed immovable property in any way, because otherwise "irreparable damage may occur, as well as the danger that the realization of the state's claims will be thwarted" .
"It is to be expected that the first defendant (Morsko dobro) will recognize the claim if his professional approach is respect and application of the law, which in particular has been violated to the detriment of the property rights and interests of the state of Montenegro and all compulsory regulations," it is stated in the lawsuit, in which "Vijesti" had insight into.
Since the beginning of 2021, the Special State Prosecutor's Office has been investigating the operations of the companies "Navar" and "Morski Dobr", and at that time it was announced that several former leaders of that state-owned company and employees of the Real Estate Administration were being investigated, on suspicion of abusing their official position, while the owner Tivat Shipyard "Navar" Branko Zgradic suspected of having committed the criminal acts of abuse of official position through assistance for an extended period of time and abuse of position in business operations.
Special prosecutors suspect that Zgradić, in the business transactions of his company with the company Morsko dobro, in the period from 2009 to 2015, managed to register his company as the owner of real estate on the seashore in Tivat with an area of about 14,5 thousand square meters, which are the state property of Montenegro. An order was passed to conduct an investigation, and the case, according to "Vijesti" information, has not yet been closed by any decision of the prosecution.
Zgradić then claimed that he had never done anything illegal in connection with the thirty-year operation of his company in Bonići and that for everything that "Navar" did there and the facilities that the company had built in the meantime, it had proper permits and extensive documentation, as and that he never gave bribes to anyone in state bodies and institutions.
"Morsko dobro" gave the right of use as a stake
In the lawsuit, the state recalls that "Morsko dobro" and "Navar" concluded an agreement in May 2000 on the establishment of a limited liability company called "Navar Incorporated" with headquarters in Tivat.
"The newly founded company "Navar Inc" was established as a limited liability company for an indefinite period, and its capital consisted of the monetary and non-monetary part of the defendants, with the value of the shares of the first defendant (Morsko dobro) amounting to 6 percent, and the second defendant's 94 percent from the total basic capital of the company... Furthermore, on June 1, 6, the defendants concluded the Agreement on the resignation of the founder and transfer of the founding role in the company "Navar Incorporated" doo Tivat, by which the first defendant, as the founder of the said company, resigned from the same and his founding share sold 2009 percent in the company to the second defendant for the amount of 6 euros, so that the second defendant became the sole owner of the company "Navar Incorporated" from Tivat with a 108.210,5 percent share. The contract was certified by the Basic Court in Kotor under no. Ov.I.100/3777 of June 2009, 1. After that, "Navar Incorporated" was registered as the user of immovable properties 6, 2009, 2895, 4731 and 4732, all KO Tivat, with buildings on the same, in the list of immovable property 4733 KO Tivat, states the lawsuit of the state against the state-owned "Morski dobr" and private "Navar" company.
As previously announced by the Special Prosecutor's Office, according to the foundation contract, as a founding contribution Morsko dobro enters - the right to use the sea coast and aquatoria, with an area of 14.000 square meters, which are registered in the real estate cadastre as state property and a monetary part of the founding capital in the amount of 500 dollars . The Navar company brings in its design and technical documentation, infrastructure of the complex, models and molds for building ships and know-how for designing and building boats, "although there is no valid evidence for this in the form of identifying the indicated roles". Navar brings in a $7.900 cash stake.
More than two decades ago, 14.000 square meters of state-owned land in the maritime domain was given to the private company "Navar" for use as a stake in a joint venture, from which "Morsko dobro" later withdrew.
The protector of property and legal interests, Bojana Ćirović, reminds in the lawsuit that "Morsko dobro", as a public company, only has the authority to manage marine resources as a natural resource, which is prescribed by the Law on Marine Resources.
"Neither the Law nor the decision of the Government was authorized to enter the right of use on the cadastral parcels in question, or any other property right, as a founding contribution during the establishment of the company 'Navar Incorporated', according to which legal transaction the defendant of the second order in the records of the cadastral operation was entered in B list as a user", the lawsuit emphasized.
According to Ćirović, it is about immovable properties that represent marine resources with facilities, as well as the coastal sea zone, which the state "Morsko dobro" only manages and does not dispose of.
"... Well, he could not transfer the same, as a founding stake and share in the company, to another founder, here the second defendant. All of this was due to the fact that the owner of those immovable properties was not the first defendant, but the plaintiff - Montenegro, and the Government of Montenegro disposes of them, while the first defendant is only the person who manages those immovable properties, but based on the decision and consent of the Government of Montenegro, which does not exist in this case. .
It is to be expected that the first defendant (Morsko dobro) will recognize the claim if his professional approach is respect and application of the law, which in particular has been violated to the detriment of the property rights and interests of the state of Montenegro and all compulsory regulations," the lawsuit states.
This, Ćirović points out, means that the disputed Agreement on the establishment of a limited liability company called "Navar Incorporated" from May 2000 is "an absolutely void legal transaction in the part of the provision in which, as a founding contribution by the first defendant, the right to use real estate representing maritime property and property of the plaintiff".
"Navar" claims the right of ownership
Explaining the request for the determination of a temporary measure, the Protector emphasizes that the company "Navar Incorporated" was registered on the disputed immovable property with the right of use, but also that "in the administrative procedure, it is required that the right of use be registered as a right of ownership in accordance with the provisions of Articles 419 and 420 of the Law on Property legal relations".
"It is obvious that the plaintiff may suffer irreparable damage, as well as the danger that the realization of her claim will be thwarted. Since the likelihood of the plaintiff's claim undoubtedly stems from LN 2895 KO Tivat, and legal provisions, the state proposes that the court determine a temporary measure and prohibit "Navar Incorporated" from Tivat from disposing of, alienating and encumbering real estate marked as cadastral plots 4731, 4732 in any way. , 4733, 4734 and 4735, all KO Tivat, with the associated temporary buildings in a dilapidated state marked as object 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the cadastral plot 4733 KO Tivat and temporary object 1 on the cadastral plot 4734 KO Tivat", the lawsuit emphasized .
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