A cultural and historical monument from the 9th century, a former Benedictine monastery that two and a half decades ago, through a strange set of circumstances, was sold by the local government to a private individual, only to be converted into a hotel and restaurant - the old town's Adriatic Watch will once again return to the hands of the Budva Municipality.
As confirmed to "Vijesti", the Mayor of the Municipality Nikola Jovanovic He gave his administration permission to respond to the current owners that the local government is ready to purchase the priceless building for 3,4 million euros.
The final decision will certainly have to be made by the Municipal Assembly, and "Vijesti" was told that a decision on the purchase of the building in the heart of the Old Town will be made at the first next session before the council.
Considering that it is a cultural monument, according to current law, the state, or rather the Municipality, has the right of first refusal.
It is speculated that there are several interested parties in purchasing the Jadranska Straža, which is why Jovanović decided that this is the right moment, when the city coffers are full, for the Municipality to start returning the property it had previously sold.
It is mentioned that the renowned Turkish company Merit, which built the luxury condo hotel Merit Starlit near the Old Town, has also set its sights on the Adriatic Guard.
As "Vijesti" was told by the local administration, a notary contacted the Secretariat for Property Protection of the Municipality of Budva on October 31st. Nikola Tomanovic and informed them that the co-owners of the Adriatic Watch - "OLD TOWN GROUP" from Budva and Miloš Burić approached the notary's office with a request to conclude a sales contract.
"The transfer of ownership rights to the business premises also transfers the right of co-use of the cadastral plot in the amount of one sixth of the ideal part. The sellers set the price at 2.000.000 euros in favor of Burić Miloš and 1.400.000 euros to the legal entity OLD TOWN GROUP doo from Budva. The real estate register indicates the legal status, the factual status in which the business premises are located as a cultural monument. The factual status is not entered in the real estate register. The factual status is indicated in the report on the assessment of the value of the real estate," reads the notary's letter, which "Vijesti" had access to.
As Tomanović explains, based on the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Cultural Monuments, the state of Montenegro has the right of pre-emption on cultural property and land area, referring to the provision of Article 45 of the Law.
"Therefore, we are addressing you with a request to determine and declare within the legal deadline whether the state of Montenegro is interested in exercising the right of pre-emption to purchase legal real estate," the letter submitted to Jovanović for review states.
According to the property deed, Jadranska straža is located on the Qatari parcel 2.791 KO Budva in co-use with the Municipality of Budva, in the scope of the right of two-thirds of the ideal part, which implies that, in addition to the Ministry of Culture and Media, the Municipality of Budva also has the right of pre-emption based on the registered right of co-use.
"Therefore, we are appealing to you to determine and declare within the legal deadline whether the Municipality of Budva is interested in exercising the right of pre-emption in relation to the designated property," the notary stated.
The Adriatic Watch on the eastern side represents the old town walls towards the beach Brijeg od Budva, better known as Richard's Head. It was built twelve centuries ago as a Benedictine monastery, at the same time as the old town Santa Marija in Punta.
In the 19th century, during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the facility was used for military and naval purposes, and also during the time of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, when Adriatic guards were organized along the coast.
In the 1950s, after World War II, the Municipality of Budva organized a playground there. On the eve of the 1979 earthquake and with the Urban Plan of the Old Town from 1985, the building, popularly known as the Adriatic Guard, was intended for culture, the City Music and Folklore Society "Kanjoš". Special statics were also made for the building due to the dynamic forces caused by the folklore dancers during their jumps.
From Ratko Buturović, to Baja Sekulić and the Russians
Suddenly, in 1998, the then mayor of the municipality Rade Gregovic, without the knowledge of the Parliament, the building intended for culture is sold to the company "Unipres Zrenjanin", which is owned by a Novi Sad businessman Ratko Buturović, better known as Bata Kankan, for what was then 480.000 German marks.
The late Buturović became known to the public when he competed for the purchase of the “Mogren” hotel, offering a symbolic amount of 666.666 marks, and submitted a request to the Republic Institute for the Protection of Monuments to upgrade the Adriatic Guard and even build a marina. However, the Institute for the Protection of Monuments from Cetinje does not allow him to raise a floor and build a marina under the Santa Maria.
The transfer of the Adriatic Guard into private hands has stirred up political life in the tourist metropolis.
The SDP of Budva then sued the Mayor of the Municipality, Rade Gregović, in the court in Kotor, for selling a cultural monument, which by law must remain the property of the Municipality for the purpose set out in the Urban Plan. Nothing came of the lawsuit, and Buturović, after not being allowed to realize his ideas, sold the Adriatic Guard to a tough guy. To Blagota-Baja Sekulić from Podgorica. He began the renovation of the Jadranska straža building on his own, and although the sales contract stated that only the ground floor and first floor were being sold, he also began the reconstruction of the basement.
The crypts in the basement were dug up, and witnesses say that the bones from them were thrown everywhere, and eventually a bar and warehouse for the bar were built on the site of the graves.
Because of all these events, the Catholic Church did not allow the use of the Santa Maria space for the purposes of the Theatre City festival.
However, the whole business soon came to a halt. On the last day of May 2002, Sekulić was brutally murdered while driving his jeep down Mediteranska Street. His family shortly afterwards sold the Adriatic Guard for 1,2 million euros to Russian citizens.
The new owner wants to build apartments, but the Cetinje Institute insists on respecting the Urban Plan.
The ingenious architects from Budva came up with the idea of leaving the building untouched on the outside, but demolishing everything inside, leaving only four walls and building two new reinforced concrete slabs, thus turning two levels into three, increasing the building's square footage by one floor, all without paying utilities or obtaining a building permit.
The building without valid documents began to be used, although it had no right to do so, and the restaurant and apartments were also opened. The disagreement between the new owners led to a triple murder. On the evening of September 13, 2007, when there were hundreds of tourists in the Old Town, an armed clash took place in the garden of the Adriatic Guard, in which a Ukrainian was killed Adalbert Suto i Vladimir Rakočević, while they Željko i Vladimir Jankovic wounded...
On several occasions, a decade ago, attempts were made to sell Jadranska straža, but there was no interest.
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