Exactly a decade since the Municipality of Budva concluded a contract with a Russian company regarding the realization of a large investment venture, promoted as one of the biggest water entertainment attractions in the southern part of the Adriatic, the Aqua Park on Topliš hill above Budva was put under a lock this summer.
And the final straw was the move of the city's Waterworks, which, despite numerous warnings to the company "Aquaterra solutions", which manages the large water city, since they have not paid their bills for two years, disconnected the complex from the water supply network.
Director of Budva Waterworks Mladen Lakcevic he told "Vijesti" that the aforementioned company owes about 125 thousand euros for unpaid water bills.
He pointed out that last year they were sued for the amount of 75 thousand euros, and that they are now sued for the remaining part of the debt.
"We have taken all possible measures to collect the claims. We managed to collect part of it. We disconnected them from the water supply network and we expected that before the season the representatives of "Aquaterra solutions" would respond to our calls and come to Vodovod to conclude the debt settlement protocol, but they did not do so. Vodovod was ready to offer to settle the debt in installments, but, unfortunately, no one from "Aquaterra solutions" came," said Lakčević.
Sale of movable property
On the other hand, the Municipality of Budva, i.e. its Secretariat for Property Protection, had to apply radical measures - the sale of movable property in the Aqua Park complex on Topliš hill was requested, in order to collect rent from the company "Aquaterra solutions" for the year 2019.
Acting Secretary for Property Protection Vlado Ivanovic he told "Vijesti" that they expect the public bailiff to come to the scene and list the movable property.
"The current claim according to the enforcement decision in the name of the lease for 2019 amounts to 313.553 euros, the principal amount is 215.447 euros, and the rest is interest. On May 10, at the proposal of the Secretariat for Property Protection, a decision was made to change enforcement, and enforcement was determined on the debtor's movable property. Our goal is to list the movable property in the Aqua park, and the public executor is expected to make an appointment to do it on the spot", it was announced earlier to the "News" in this municipal secretariat.
This is the fifth year that the company "Aquaterra solutios" has not paid the rent of the municipal land on Topliš hill where the Water City was built, which means that the debt exceeds one million euros.
The aqua park will most likely not be open this season, and the sight that an intending traveler going by car on the old road to Kotor via Topliš encounters when he passes by the aqua park complex is not at all representative.
Uncut grass, a rusted fence, once white walls blackened by moisture, grass that grew out of empty pools, broken tiles, slides that are in bad condition, a cracked facade of a catering facility... this is today's picture of what used to be the biggest tourist attraction in Budva.
The legal representatives of the company "Aquaterra solutions" told "Vijesti" that the company approached the Municipality of Budva several times, but they did not receive a permit to work for this year.
"Their work permit was not approved, but it was not refused either," they stated, which is why the Aqua Park was not opened this summer.
The company regularly, as in previous years, submitted a request for approval for the operation of sports and recreational activities, but the Municipality has not approved it to date, but letters from one side and the other have been going on literally from April to June.
A decade ago, on December 24, 2014, the Municipality of Budva concluded a contract with "Aquaterra solutions" on the long-term lease of real estate for the construction of an aqua park. The annual price of renting four hectares of municipal land was 255 thousand euros.
Russians as saviors
The project to build an aqua park was promoted in 2006 when the then minister Predrag Nenezic (DPS) laid the foundation stone. The whole project failed because the Cypriot company "Numerico trade limited" fails to realize the idea, leaving millions in debt to the Municipality. The case was taken over by the prosecutor's office in January 2011, when inspectors entered the Municipality of Budva and seized the complete documentation. Although at the time there was talk of one of the biggest corruption scandals, because the debts of the Cypriot company fell on the backs of taxpayers, no indictment was ever brought.
The municipality, while it is managed by DPS personnel, manages to animate "Aquaterra solution" at the end of 2014, which submits the most favorable offer in the tender. The company, which was backed by Russian capital at the time, gets a three-decade lease of 41.889 square meters of municipal land in Topliš and agrees to buy for two million euros the equipment of the Spanish manufacturer "Action waterscapes SL", which was previously acquired by a Cypriot company, and which was stored for years in the port of Bar.
"Aquaterra solution" managed to build a large water city in two years, the ceremonial opening of which was in June 2016, when the then mayor of Budva Srđa Popović (DPS) cut the ribbon. 53 water attractions were built on more than four hectares, and in the past years, 140 workers worked in the aqua park during the season, with thousands of visitors every day.
The municipality never agreed to reduce the price of water to the foreign partner, so the costs kept getting higher. The company managed the aqua park well until 2019, when business problems began, since then it has not paid the annual rent of 255 thousand euros, which is why the Municipality of Budva filed a lawsuit.
According to the Central Register of Business Entities, the company was founded before 2016 by "Brockhampton investments limited" and LLC "Avanti". After that, "Brockhampton investments limited" remained as the founder, and after that, "Henderson holdings limited" and "Castelmaine holdings limited" appeared as founders with 48,5 percent each, while Sahret Ajdarpašić had XNUMX percent.
Five years ago, there were changes again, so the companies "N50 foundation" and "Trakom fondation" were registered as founders with 4 percent of the capital each.
From 2021, the company "Advent east estates SRO" will own half of the capital, while "N4 foundation" and "Trakom foundation" will each have a quarter share.
Katnić archived the case in July 2021
No one will answer for the multimillion-dollar embezzlement, the construction of a large water city - aqua park on Topliš hill above Budva, because the case was archived in July 2021 by the then chief special prosecutor Milivoje Katnic. The Municipality of Budva, i.e. the Secretariat for Property Protection, only learned a year later that Katnić had archived a case weighing 11,5 million euros.
Then Assistant Secretary for Asset Protection Đorđe Zenović back in mid-October 2022, he sent a letter to the chief special prosecutor Vladimir Novović, asking to provide them with information regarding what the prosecution did with the three corruption cases of the Budva criminal group Svetozar Marović - "Water city", "Petrovačko šetalište" and "Rusko selo", which damaged the city coffers by several million euros.
"I inform you that the Special State Prosecutor's Office is in the process of verifying the legality of the multi-year lease of a cadastral parcel owned by the Municipality of Budva (aqua park) and the actions undertaken in connection with the same, on July 21, 2021, an official note signed by the then Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić, decided that in this particular case there are no grounds for criminal prosecution of any person for any criminal offense for which prosecution is undertaken ex officio and archived the case", stated the state prosecutor assigned to work at the SDT Tanja Čolan Deretic in a letter delivered to Zenović in November 2022.
"Vijesti" previously announced that the "Water City" project on Topliš hill caused direct damage to the municipal budget of 11,5 million euros, as shown by the findings of the investigation, which the editorial office had access to.
In this work, almost all municipal officials from the ranks of the DPS were involved, who were on trial, or were under investigation in the framework of several corruption affairs led by Katnić's investigators.
From Marović to Madonna
The story of the water city began at the end of 2005, when the Municipal Assembly (SO) of Budva gave consent to lease a nine-hectare plot on Topliš hill, where there was a wild dump, for a two-decade lease. On the basis of that decision, the municipality announced an international tender and formed commissions for the evaluation of the offer and the allocation of land for lease. The first-ranked bidder, according to the commission's assessment, was the Cypriot company "Numerico Trading Limited LLC", which offered 4,5 million euros.
At the end of November 2005, a lawyer Ana Đukanović, as the legal representative of that Cypriot company, and on the basis of a power of attorney, signs and draws up the statute and registration of the subsidiary company in Montenegro "Aqua-park".
Among the founders of the Cypriot company was Miloš Marović, the son of the then director of the Political Council of the DPS, Svetozar Marović, the convicted head of the Budva criminal group, who has been in Belgrade for years and is avoiding serving a prison sentence.
Immediately after the signing, a disputed annex to the contract followed, by which the Municipality agreed, which was later confirmed by the Budva Municipality, to be the guarantor of the Cypriot company for a loan of 1,59 million euros for the purchase and procurement of equipment.
According to the findings of the investigation, which "Vijesti" had access to, the analysis established that the abuses of the municipal leadership caused material damage to Budva of 11,5 million euros.
Namely, the water city on Topliš hill was not built, and the Municipality later, taking over the company "Akva-park", assumed the obligation to pay the 1,59 million obligations that had been made in the meantime, in addition to the loan of 8,6 million euros. company, carrying out earthworks and preparing the terrain at the mentioned location.
Since the Cypriot company did not fulfill the contractual obligations, at the end of January 2009, the Municipality took over the company "Akva-park", and with it also million obligations. For that decision, the then President of the Municipality, the deceased Rajko Kuljaca he did not ask SO Budva.
According to the documents from the investigation, by analyzing the business documentation of the company "Aqua-park", the Municipality of Budva, among other things, undertook to return the obligations of slightly more than 800.000 euros that were not directly related to the construction of the water city. It is about 330 thousand euros for the organization of the Madonna concert and the payment of the non-existent business plan of the company "TOB CO" as a sponsorship for the cultural event "Budvan summer" of almost 300 thousand euros.
Intrusion of inspectors into the Municipality
At the end of January 2012, inspectors from the department of the special prosecutor for organized crime entered the Municipality of Budva with the order of the prosecutor Đurđina Nina Ivanović and took complete documentation related to the contract of the local administration on the construction of a water city on Topliš hill. The inspectors then entered the building around 11:XNUMX a.m. and "combed" through the municipal archive until late in the evening, and allegedly took each of the documents related to the aqua park to Podgorica.
Computers were also taken from the Municipality. However, no charges were ever brought. When dozens of municipal officials were arrested in August 2015 in several corruption scandals, it was speculated that those involved in the aqua park scandal would be their turn, but that did not happen. reconnaissance, and to conduct expert reports.
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