Exactly three years since the Cadmus Cineplex cinema in Budva was closed, the dispute between the Municipality of Budva and the company Lovćen film is entering a new, financially most difficult phase - "Lovćen film" has filed a new lawsuit before the Commercial Court, demanding more than five million euros in damages due to the termination of the long-term lease agreement.
This was confirmed by "Vijesti" from several sources.
Together with previous court disputes, the total amount of disputes between the two conflicting parties exceeded twenty million euros.
As "Vijesti" has learned, "Lovćen Film" has again filed a lawsuit against the local government, claiming that the Municipality is solely responsible for terminating the contract and closing the cinema, and that it must therefore compensate for actual damages and lost profits with interest.
The Municipality of Budva and the “Budva Cineplex” consortium, which consisted of the companies “Lovćen film” and “Art vista”, concluded a basic agreement in 2014, which stipulated that the local government would subsidize the project with 199.000 euros annually. The agreement provided for the space in the TQ Plaza complex for 20 years. However, the two parties initiated several court cases and filed criminal charges against each other.
The total claim, according to the lawsuit filed by Lovćen Film, which "Vijesti" had access to, is estimated at 5,1 million euros.
The company also provided the latest Supreme Court ruling in a separate proceeding related to the cancelled film festivals.
In that decision, the highest court determined that “Lovćen Film” cannot be held liable for any shortcomings in the procedures conducted by the Municipality itself. That legal position was, as the company claims, sufficient for the court to conclude the trial in the largest dispute in a series of procedures that have been conducted between the two parties for years, which ended on February 9th.
"Lovćen Film" expects this verdict in the proceedings related to the nullity of the contract by March 10th at the latest. They believe that there will be no basis for declaring the contract null and void, and that, as they state, this will fall under the accusations of the current municipal leadership against the former DPS administration and the owner of the company. Such an outcome would, in their opinion, further complicate the legal position of the local administration in the new dispute for compensation for damages.
As "Vijesti" has learned, the Municipality is ready for an agreement to take over the management of the cinema itself because it is not interested in continuing cooperation with "Lovćen Film".
The municipality is of the opinion that it can only pay off the initial investment, without interest or revaluation, even though more than a decade has passed since the opening. With unpaid subsidies and maintenance costs for three years of inactivity, the estimated amount does not exceed 1,8 million euros, which is almost three times less than the claim from the lawsuit of “Lovćen Film”.
The Municipality of Budva recently hired a lawyer for negotiations with "Lovćen Film" Miroj Jovanović who successfully ended long-standing disputes with the German company WTE. "Lovćen Film" claims that negotiations with it were held in December last year, but that they ended ingloriously and that they see no possibility of reaching an agreement.
"Our position is clear and expressed in the lawsuit. For more than seven years, we have been trying to reach an amicable solution, but we have been put in a situation where we will be suing for years to come, while the cinema remains closed. We are not interested in unofficial information about the amounts that the Municipality is willing to pay - the minimum amount is based on the contract and the law and amounts to 5,1 million euros," the cinema's PR service said.
While the court proceedings are ongoing, Budva students continue to travel to other cities for screenings, and going to the cinema turns into a trip that costs parents more than 20 euros. Whether this will continue in the coming years will depend on court rulings and willingness to reach an agreement.
Padlock for three years
The controversial Cadmus Cineplex cinema project, located in the municipal space in TQ Plaza, has been a constant subject of accusations and numerous court cases since the arrival of new political parties after the DPS fell from power in Budva in 2016.
The administration of the former mayor of Budva, Dragan Krapović, claimed that the project was the product of major corruption and that the municipality and citizens were harmed in the deal, while "Lovćen Film" claims that the municipality of Budva could not have received a better project and that they are ready to resolve all disputes either in court or peacefully, but that the cinema will continue to operate.
When Milo Božović took the chair of the first man of Budva, the cinema was closed and new disputes arose.
In February 2023, "Lovćen Film" put a padlock on the cinema, when film screenings in the tourist metropolis officially ceased.
The Municipality of Budva and the company "Lovćen film" have been in a complex and exhausting business-legal relationship for almost eight years, constantly moving from courtroom to courtroom.
The authorities in Budva changed several times, but the essence of the business relationship between the two "warring" parties remained the same.
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