There's no one to look for the recording.

The Law on the Legalization of Illegal Structures provides for a fine for the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property (MDUP) if satellite and aerial photogrammetric images are not available within certain deadlines, but despite the fact that they have been breached, there is no one to impose a financial sanction on the authorities.

This follows from the department's response. Slaven Radunović to the questions sent by "Vijesti" yesterday, concerning the legal provisions that satellite and aerial photogrammetric images should be available on the Geoportal, which is located on the Ministry's website, no later than 30 days from the entry into force of that regulation. The 30-day deadline expired on September 14, the image is still missing, and the legal obligation to "specially check" it by the spatial protection inspector has not been met.

Satellite and aerial photogrammetric images are the basis for resolving citizens' requests for legalization of facilities.

"The spatial protection inspector shall in particular check whether the Ministry, within 30 days from the date of entry into force of this Law, has provided the recording referred to in Article 7 of this Law and made it available on the Geoportal located on the Ministry's website (Article 7 and Article 47)," states Article 40 of the Law on Legalization of Illegal Structures.

The very next provision, which refers to administrative measures and actions of the spatial protection inspector, states that, when, during the inspection procedure, he assesses that a law or other regulation has been violated, he is obliged to "order the Ministry to provide the recording referred to in Article 7 of this Law within 30 days from the date of entry into force of this Law and make it available on the Geoportal located on the Ministry's website (Article 7 and Article 47)".

The law also prescribes sanctions - a fine of 60 to 4.000 euros will be imposed on a responsible person in a state administration body, a responsible person in a competent local administration body and a responsible person in a local self-government unit if, among other things, they fail to provide the recording referred to in Article 7 of this law and make it available on the Geoportal.

"Vijesti" asked the Ministry of Interior Affairs why the footage is not yet available on the Geoportal in accordance with the law, and also whether the spatial protection inspectors acted in accordance with their legal authority.

"We expect that the complete package of services purchased from the company 'Vekom Geo', which includes a satellite and aerial photogrammetric image of the territory of Montenegro taken in July 2025, will be delivered to the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property in the first week of November. Due to the volume of data obtained during the survey of the territory of Montenegro and the importance of this image being of maximum quality, and due to the volume of data posted on the Geoportal, we consider it necessary to carry out this work with maximum quality to the satisfaction of both the citizens who will use this image, and the ministry, which will receive all relevant data on illegal structures on the territory of Montenegro," Radunović's department responded to "Vijesti"

According to them, the adoption of a new systematization of that Ministry is expected, which is in line with the amendments to the Law on Civil Servants and Employees.

Then, they explain, a spatial protection inspection will be formed.

"And after its establishment, it will begin with its responsibilities prescribed by the Law on the Legalization of Illegal Structures," the Ministry of Interior stated.

ONE THING IN THE LAW, ANOTHER IN THE CONTRACT

In Article 7 of that regulation, the legislators stipulated that a satellite and aerial photogrammetric survey of the territory of Montenegro should be made in July 2025, and made available no later than September 14, or 30 days from the entry into force of the Law on Legalization.

Although the tender for this satellite imaging was announced at the end of April, the contract worth almost 1,5 million euros including VAT was initialed on July 18th.

The contract stipulates that the selected company, "Vekom Geo" from Belgrade, has nine months to complete the job and deliver the footage to the MDUP.

According to a document available on the CEJN website, MDUP may terminate the contract if the deadline is missed, and "Vekom Geo" may terminate the contract if payment is not made in the agreed manner.

Article 6 of the Law stipulates that wild objects on the territory of the state are legalized if, among other things, they are recorded on satellite and aerial photogrammetric images.

"The administrative body, or the competent local government body, is obliged to determine whether the conditions for legalizing an illegal building have been met, in accordance with this Law, based on the submitted documentation, determine whether the illegal building is located on the recording referred to in Article 7 of this Law, and conduct an on-site inspection of the illegal building," the Law states, among other things.

However, while waiting for the MDUP and municipalities to receive the recording, citizens whose illegal building is not registered in the real estate cadastre must contact the regional units of the Cadastre Administration. The deadline for submitting the registration in the real estate list for owners of illegal buildings that are not registered in the cadastre, in whole or in part, is February 14 of the following year. The Law on the Legalization of Illegal Buildings was adopted by the Parliament of Montenegro on July 31. It entered into force on August 14, while the regulations and forms were posted on the official website legalizuj.me at the end of last week.

60 to 4.000 euros are the amounts of the legally prescribed fines for responsible persons in a state body, responsible persons in a local government body and responsible persons in a local self-government unit if they fail to provide satellite and aerial photogrammetric images within 30 days of the date of entry into force of the regulation.

MUNICIPALITIES DO NOT HAVE A BUDGET YET

When asked why there is no data on the legalizuj.me website about the costs of legalization and when they will be known, the Ministry indicated that this data can be requested from municipalities.

"According to the Law, local self-government units adopt Decisions on urban rehabilitation fees, which list the fees by zones of each local self-government unit, so that citizens can see the prices on the websites of local self-government units. Decisions on urban rehabilitation fees that were adopted on the basis of the previous law are still valid, and local self-government units have a period of three months from the adoption of the Law (until November 14) to harmonize their decisions with the new Law on the Legalization of Illegal Structures," the Ministry stated.

Along with the request for legalization, the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development of the Capital City recently told "Vijesti", a sample of the completed state study of the illegal facility "prepared by a licensed geodetic organization" is submitted.

"... Which is certified by the administrative body responsible for cadastral affairs, photographs of all facades of the illegal building in JPG format with a minimum resolution of five megapixels, proof of the recording of the existence of the building in the cadastral records, i.e. an extract from the real estate cadastre or other appropriate real estate records. For an illegal collective building, the legalization procedure for the entire building is initiated by submitting a request for legalization by at least one condominium owner. The study contains in particular the following data: gross and net area of ​​the illegal building, position and coordinates of the building on the cadastral plot, distance of the building from the borders of the neighboring cadastral plot, position of the building in relation to the regulation line and photographs of the current condition of the building," the Secretariat said.