Last August, the Ministry of Finance paid 577.000 euros to the Regional Waterworks for the purchase of a temporary water purification plant, which would prevent its shortage. However, there is no plant yet, and the entire summer season was marked by problems with water supply.
On July 12, 2023, the Government passed a conclusion on the basis of which the Ministry of Finance paid 577.000 euros from the current budget reserve to the company "Regional Water Supply of the Montenegrin Coast". The funds are intended for the purchase and installation of two water purification plants, in order to alleviate the consequences of the decline in the yield of the springs of the "Bolje sestre" system, with a capacity of 100 liters per second. According to documents from the Government's website, the conclusion mandates the Regional Waterworks to continue activities on the implementation of the emergency measure of the construction of a temporary constitution in the Morača River bed.
Funds for the purchase of mobile water purification plants, it says in the conclusion, represent the state's investment in basic assets, which increase the basic capital of the Regional Waterworks, which is fed from the "Bolje sestre" source.
Executive Director of the Regional Waterworks Borislav Ivanković he told "Vijesti" that the money was paid on August 2, 2023, but that the project could not be implemented for the summer tourist season, given that it was necessary to implement complete legal procedures, in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement for design, installation and commissioning of the plant.
"After that, the company's assessment was that it would be better to build a plant with a larger capacity, and accordingly a letter was sent to the founder on August 28, 8, to redirect the funds paid to the construction of a plant with a larger capacity and to change the Government's conclusion," he said. he.
While waiting for the answer, various preparatory activities were carried out for the implementation of the project, he said. However, as Ivanković stated, they received a reply from the Ministry of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North "that they must not undertake any possible activities that contradict the Government's Conclusion", while on March 7, 2024, once again emphasized by the same ministry "that the allocated funds must be used for the realization of the construction of the mobile plant in accordance with the aforementioned Conclusion".
Acting on the instructions of the competent ministry, the executive director with the management of the Company sent the proposal to the Board of Directors to amend the public procurement plan in mid-February of this year.
The decision to accept the proposal for amending the public procurement plan was made in mid-March, they told "Vijesti", after which the preparation of documentation for the tender for design, construction and commissioning of the filter plant began.
"The tender was announced on April 8, 2024. "Unfortunately, no bidder applied for the tender," Ivanković pointed out.
After that, in accordance with the public procurement plan, the tender was re-announced on May 24, 2024, when three bidders came forward, of which only one submitted the correct documentation. The contract with the selected contractor was signed in mid-September this year.
"The construction of the project by the contractor is in progress, which will be audited by the selected auditor after completion, after which the contractor will proceed with the procurement and installation of the equipment," stated the director of the Regional Waterworks.
From the Ministry of Finance, which he manages Novica Vuković they did not answer the editorial questions about that project.
The source of "Vijesti" from the Regional Waterworks said that the management of that company only after asking the Government what happens to the money, announced the tender before the beginning of the summer season, with the clear outcome that the plant will not be acquired during the season.
"The procurement contract has not been signed yet, but there is a chance that it will be procured for the 2025 summer season. So, in short, this season there was not enough water in Bar and Budva, especially in Petrovac, because the plants for which the Government paid about 580.000 euros were not procured for the summer of 2024 due to idleness and chaos that has taken root for a long time," he said. "News" source.
This summer season was marked by problems with coastal water supply, especially in Bar and Budva. The Bar Waterworks earlier told "Vijesti" that this is because the Regional Waterworks has reduced the amount of water it delivers to them.
That company previously claimed that they were delivering much more than the contracted amount, and that they had problems with water supply because the yield of the "Bolje sestre" source was reduced due to illegal gravel exploitation.
The yield of the Bolje sestre source dropped from 2.600 liters per second measured in 2010 to 265 liters per second in 2021 and 2022.
Despite numerous continuous appeals and warnings, the Regional Water Supply could not influence such a situation, they told the newspaper earlier.
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