The company Vodovod i kanalizacija doo Tivat (ViK) will have total revenues of 3.365.000 euros this year, which is the same amount as the expenses of this company owned by the Municipality.
This is stated in the Financial Plan of ViK, which, together with the company's Work Plan and Program, should soon be considered by the local parliament.
Such a calculation is the result of the price list that ViK will apply for its services in 2026, which is a product of the fact that the local parliament did not previously give formal consent to the calculation of prices for ViK services, which was prepared for 2026 by the Regulatory Agency for Energy and Regulated Utilities (REGAGEN) according to its methodology. The Law on Utilities stipulates that “the goal of regulating utilities is to ensure the provision of utility services to the user at fair prices”. This led to the REGAGEN Methodology, which is based on the “principle of cost recovery”, according to which the price of services is determined, which ensures that the provider covers “justified costs in performing regulated utilities”.
In practice, this means that REGAGEN does not allow utility service providers, such as local water utilities, parking services, utility companies, and the like, to invest money from their profits in the development of utility infrastructure entrusted to them for use and management by the municipalities that are the founders of these local companies, but rather shifts the burden of investments in the development of this infrastructure exclusively to the budget of local governments. In addition, such a methodology and interpretation by REAGEN “punishes” successful local utility companies that generate profits and, according to the conclusion of their founder, transfer it to it because these companies are not allowed to use it for investments, because then these funds are “deducted” by REGAGEN from the calculation of the price level for service users for the following year, thereby further artificially reducing prices.
In the case of the Tivat Waterworks, this resulted in a new calculation of prices for water supply and wastewater disposal services for 2026, to which REGAGEN gave its consent, which envisaged a price reduction of an average of 20 percent. This would have caused this successful company, which has been operating profitably for years, to enter the zone of financial losses in the amount of several hundred thousand euros in 2026, so at the end of last year the local parliament did not give its consent to the price list of VIK services prepared by REAGEN. By law, this led to a situation in which the prices of ViK services for 2026, instead of the average 20 percent calculated by REAGEN, decreased by “only” 10 percent.
According to this price list, all categories of service users in Tivat will pay 0,8846 euros per cubic meter of water this year, and 0,2547 euros per cubic meter for sewage. The fixed part of the price for water supply services is 1,4251 euros per connection per month, and for wastewater disposal 0,3736 euros per connection per month.
According to this price list, calculated according to the planned physical volume of water delivery and sewage collection, from consumers in the area of at least the Boka Municipality, Tivat ViK will earn 2.136.629 euros from delivered water, 274.254 euros from sewage, and 229.126 euros from fixed connection fees this year. However, in order to “remain at positive zero”, ViK will have to be subsidized from the city budget, so the company plans to receive 563.000 euros from the Municipality this year.
As for expenses, ViK will spend the most money - 1.172.000 euros - on salaries and compensation for its 59 employees. For the purchase of water from the Montenegrin Pirmorje Regional Water Supply System, Tivat ViK will spend 811.000 euros in 2026, material costs will amount to 287.000, and services to 73.500 euros. A significant item in the financial balance is depreciation costs, which will amount to 749.000 euros, while intangible costs are planned to amount to 125.500 euros.
Otherwise, 95 percent of the municipality's area is covered by the water supply network, so in that city ViK currently has 11.784 users from the category of individuals and 771 users from legal entities. The city's sewage network coverage is much weaker, so ViK currently has a total of 5.690 users of wastewater disposal services, namely individuals, and 479 legal entities.
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