The Pljevlja Municipal Assembly has requested the Government of Montenegro and the Ministry of Finance to urgently get involved in resolving the accumulated problems at the "Ada" Sports Center and to transfer ownership of this sports hall to the Pljevlja Municipality, with or without compensation.
The conclusions were adopted unanimously, with the support of all councilors present, both from the ruling majority and the opposition, which is a rare example of political consensus in the local parliament.
The reason for this request is the long-standing poor condition of the "Ada" Sports Hall, whose majority owners are the Government of Montenegro and the Ministry of Finance, and which has been plagued by the problem of insufficient funding and accumulated debts since its establishment.
The Assembly called on the Mayor of the Municipality of Pljevlja, Dario Vraneš, to engage authorized experts, on behalf of the Municipality as a co-owner, to assess the value of the non-monetary contributions of all the founders of the Sports Center. One of the conclusions obliges both the Municipal Assembly and the Mayor to ensure smooth financing and stable operation of the company that manages the hall after the possible takeover of SC "Ada".
During the discussion on this topic, several councilors assessed that the previous government was responsible for the current situation, but it was also pointed out that the current government also has no justification for the fact that the problem has not been resolved for four years.
Nova councilor Vujo Grbović said that the employees are the only ones who have cared about the survival of the Sports Center in the past two decades, thanks to whom the hall continued to function at all.
"The current government should be ashamed of the state of this sports facility," said Grbović.
Democrats councilor Milojica Tešović pointed out the illogicalities regarding the ownership structure of the building, recalling that the genesis of the problem dates back to its founding in 2005.
"Although the Sports Center has been managed as a company with the same ownership structure since its establishment, at one point the Municipality of Pljevlja was registered as a 100% owner in the Property Directorate, even though the registration is done based on the same documentation," said Tešović.
He said that the problem of Ada's indebtedness is a difficult and complex issue and that it cannot be solved ad hoc and that it is necessary to create a rehabilitation program through which a detailed analysis with proposed measures would be carried out.
"The liabilities due on September 30.9th of this year amounted to 440.000 euros and today they are over 500.000 euros. These liabilities relate to taxes and contributions on earnings, value added tax, electricity debt, garbage collection, creditors..." said Tešović.
Independent councilor Saša Ječmenica believes that the conclusions, like many previous ones, will remain a dead letter on paper.
"We need to agree with the Ministry of Finance to conduct a new assessment of SC Ada, and there is no problem for the municipality of Pljevlja to allocate a million or two to purchase the hall," said Ječmenica.
He believes that the debt of 500.000 euros should not even be considered, but rather accepted and a solution found so that SC Ada becomes the property of the municipality.
"Let's pay what we owe because we're wasting money on various things. Let's form a company that will manage the city stadium and the hall. The local government would be in a bigger problem if it had to build a facility like this now," said Ječmenica, recalling that the hall was built by the Coal Mine, and that it later compensated its ownership with the government due to tax debt.
DPS councilor Marko Tošić said that the adoption of the conclusions is only the first step in resolving the legal and financial status of the sports hall.
"I find it incomprehensible that there have never been more Pljevlja residents in the Government of Montenegro who show almost no interest in the citizens of Pljevlja. Therefore, it is our responsibility as councilors to unite without politicking and calculations and push this story to the end," said Tošić.
DPS councilor Haris Alavać believes that it will be "a shame for all of us" if the adopted conclusions remain just a dead letter on paper.
The Secretary of Finance of the Municipality of Pljevlja, Vladan Aničić, stated that the debt problem has been resolved or will be resolved for electricity and cleaning services, but that the problem is the debt for unpaid contributions.
"What is problematic for me is the maintenance of the sports hall and investments in it. How can the municipality invest in something that is not its own? The hall will function and it will not stop, we have removed some debts and we will also resolve these contributions if necessary. Now the problem is investment. It is best to transfer it to the municipalities and then the municipality can invest in its own.
Bonus video:
