The Municipality of Budva paid the most money for land acquisition last year to the Serbian Orthodox Church, 653 thousand euros, in order to purchase one and a half thousand square meters of land from the church and monastery in Budva and Buljarica for the construction of city roads.
This is stated in the report on the work of the President of the Municipality of Budva. Nikola Jovanović for last year, which "Vijesti" had a look at, will be presented to the local parliament on May 27th.
The annual report of the Secretariat for Property Protection, which is an integral part of Jovanović's annual report, states that an agreement was concluded with the previous owner, the Gradište Monastery in Buljarica, on compensation and transfer of real estate for the construction of a road in accordance with the Detailed Urban Plan (DUP) "Buljarica I".
These are plots of land measuring 263 square meters and 449 square meters, for which the monastery was paid 295,800 euros by the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral.
In addition, the Municipality, as stated in the document, concluded an agreement with the Church of St. Petka for the construction of a road in accordance with the Podkošljun Urban Development Plan. The local government purchased plots of 14 square meters and 762 square meters, and the church was paid a compensation of 357.902 euros.
As the report points out, during 2025, a total of 32 agreements and annexes on compensation and transfer of real estate were concluded.
The public was aware that Nikola Jovanović's administration has an exceptionally good cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church last year, when the first man of Budva met with the metropolitan Ioannici concluded an agreement on a donation of one million euros for the construction of the St. Mark's Church on the city bypass, which caused a political upheaval in the tourist metropolis.
The Municipality of Budva has committed to finance the development of complete project and technical documentation, the municipal equipping of the site, as well as to award the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral a donation of one million euros, which is foreseen in the Municipality's budget for 2026. Also, the local government will participate in the financing and construction of underground garages within the complex of the future temple.
The municipality has not yet "transferred" the million-dollar tranche to the Metropolitanate, and, as "Vijesti" was told, this will be realized once the church completes the project documentation.
The Municipality of Budva has issued the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral with urban planning and technical conditions (UTU) for the preparation of technical documentation for the construction of the Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Mark on the property of the Church of Saint Petka on the city bypass in Budva.
The Secretariat for Urban Planning and Sustainable Development of the Municipality issued a key document in the process of obtaining a building permit, referring to the planning document, the urban planning project "Orthodox Cathedral Complex in Budva", which enabled the Serbian Orthodox Church to begin developing the conceptual and then the main design of the largest temple on the coast.
On February 11, the Metropolitanate submitted a request for the issuance of UT conditions, which was immediately responded to by the municipal secretariat.
As stated in the UT conditions, the area of the urban plot is 6.059 square meters, the total gross construction area of the temple, with underground and above-ground floors, is a maximum of 2.000 square meters, the area under the building is a maximum of 800 square meters, and the maximum height of the future temple can be 25 meters.
The preparation of documentation for the construction of the temple will be financed from the city treasury, and during that time the Municipality will have to relocate the chapel to the city cemetery.
The planning document envisages the relocation of the existing city chapel, located on the property of the Church of St. Petka on the city bypass from block 18 to the neighboring block 29.
In block 18, a temple with an accompanying building, a bell tower and a plateau is planned. A parking area with about 170 spaces, conservation of the Main cemetery and preservation of the complex of the Church of Saint Petka in accordance with the Cultural Heritage Protection Study are also planned.
In Block 29, the construction of a new city chapel with a plateau is planned in accordance with the project of the existing city chapel, access service road, expansion and arrangement of the existing cemetery.
The planning basis for the development of the UP "Orthodox Cathedral Complex" is given in the Detailed Urban Plan "Podkošljun", which also defines the expansion of the cemetery.
One of the key objections that was accepted at the public hearing was that when relocating the chapel from block 18 to block 29, work should be done based on the project of the existing state of the chapel (designed by the architect Slobodan Mitrović).
"The existing chapel is a valuable work of authorship by architect Slobodan Mitrović from Budva. It is necessary to conduct an architectural survey in order to create a project of the existing condition. The main design of the new facility should be done in full accordance with the same, with the possibility of adapting to the modern needs of users and the requirements of the new location," the document states.
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