Even after the urgent requests sent by the Ministry of Culture and Media to the Municipality of Budva to state whether it was interested in having the right of pre-emption transferred to it for the cultural property, the Adriatic Guard building in the very heart of the Old Town, that department informed the Notary Chamber that they had undertaken activities to prepare materials for the Government of Montenegro, with the aim of possibly purchasing the property in question.
This was answered to "Vijesti" by the Ministry of Culture and Media.
This outcome of the situation is in complete contrast to what could be heard from official addresses from the Municipality of Budva in the previous months. Namely, on December 31st of last year, the Budva Municipal Assembly granted the Mayor of the Municipality the authority to Nikola Jovanovic to purchase the Adriatic Guard from its current owners for 3,5 million euros on behalf of the city.
"The Jadranska straža building is being purchased by direct negotiation based on the right of pre-emption prescribed by the Law on the Protection of Cultural Property. The purchase price of the property is 3.500.000 euros (2.000.000 euros in favor of Buric Milosa and 1.400.000 euros to the legal entity 'Old Town Group' doo from Budva), according to the Report on the assessment of the value of real estate, which was prepared on September 23, 2024 by the authorized appraiser Prof. Dr. Slavko Rakočević", "Vijesti" published at the time, referring to the decision adopted by the majority of the Budva parliament led by Jovanović's group "Budva our city", the European Alliance and the Democratic Party of Socialists.
In 2002, Russian citizens paid 1,2 million euros to the family of Blagota Baja Sekulić for the Adriatic Guard.
Jovanović and the Municipality of Budva recently, after a stormy session of the local parliament held in early June, took to social media to explain to the public where the money from the city treasury was spent, and as they stated, among the "investments that are changing the city" they also mentioned that the Municipality had purchased the "Adriatic Guard" with the message "return of property and investment in the future".
However, in an official response to "Vijesti" from the department headed by the Minister Tamara Vujović It is stated that the Ministry of Culture and Media has acted and continues to act in accordance with the legally prescribed procedure relating to the right of pre-emption of cultural property, i.e. real estate located in the protected area of a cultural property.
"In this case, the property is registered in the Land Registry Office number 2756 of the Budva Municipal Administrative District, at KP 2791, and consists of two business premises, designated as PD8, floor area P, area 87 m², and PD9, area 98 m², for which a request was submitted to the Ministry based on the right of pre-emption, in the amount of 2.000.000,00 euros.
After receiving the request, the Ministry of Culture and Media, in accordance with the procedure, requested the opinion of the competent Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, which stated that the building on the plot in question represents the "Adriatic Guard" building, which is an integral part of the cultural property "Battlefields with Bastions and the Old Town of Budva", and that it is in the interest of purchasing the said property", the ministry stated.
Bearing in mind that the aforementioned facility is privately owned, and that the state, as they emphasized, has the right of pre-emption in accordance with the Law on the Protection of Cultural Property, the Ministry, after receiving the opinion of the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Property, sent a request to the Municipality of Budva to state whether it is interested in having the right of pre-emption transferred to it.
"As the Ministry of Culture and Media did not receive feedback from the Municipality of Budva within the legally prescribed deadline, an urgent request was sent to the Municipality of Budva, requesting it to respond by September 8, 2025 at the latest.
Since the Municipality of Budva has not yet submitted a statement after the urgency, the Ministry of Culture and Media, taking into account the importance of the cultural property in question, as well as the opinion of the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Property that it is in the interest of purchasing it, has informed the Notary Chamber of Montenegro that this body has undertaken activities to prepare materials for the Government of Montenegro, with the aim of possibly purchasing the property in question," the Ministry of Culture and Media stressed.
As they added, it was also requested to consider the possibility of suspending further activities of notaries until the completion of the procedure prescribed by the Law on the Protection of Cultural Property.
"Since the statement of the Municipality of Budva was not submitted within the given deadline or after the urgency, the Ministry of Culture and Media, taking into account the importance of this cultural property, continued activities towards the protection of public interest and the possible purchase of the property in question by the state," the ministry concluded.
And two and a half decades ago, through a strange set of circumstances, the local government sold the Adriatic Watch, a cultural and historical monument from the 9th century, a former Benedictine monastery, to a private individual, who turned it into a hotel and restaurant.
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, along with the old town's Santa Marija in Punta.
In the XNUMXth century, during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the building was used for military and naval needs, and also during 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, which remained popularly known as the Adriatic Guard, was intended for culture, the City Music and Folklore Society "Kanjoš". Special statics were even made for the building due to the dynamic forces caused by the folklore dancers during their jumps.
However, suddenly, in 1998, the then mayor of the municipality Rade Gregovic, without the knowledge of the Assembly, the building, which is planned for culture, is sold to the company "Unipres Zrenjanin", which is owned by Novi Sad businessman Ratko Buturović, better known as Bata Kankan, for the then 480.000 German marks.
Buturović, after he was not allowed to realize his ideas, the upgrade of the Adriatic Guard and the construction of a marina in front of the ramparts, sold the building to a tough guy, Blagota Baja Sekulić from Podgorica, who began the adaptation of the Adriatic Guard and the reconstruction of the basement on his own.
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.
On the last day of May 2001, Sekulić was murdered, and shortly thereafter his family sold the Adriatic Guard for 1,2 million euros to Russian citizens, who carried out extensive work, increasing the building's square footage by one floor, all without paying utilities or obtaining a building permit.
Discord between the new owners leads to a triple murder in 2007 in the garden of the Jadranska straža. A new sale follows.
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