DPS, as the legal and legal successor of the Union of Communists of Montenegro, should take over the debt due to the demolition of the K-1 settlement in Štoj near Ulcinj. The municipality is not to blame, believes former MP and long-time political activist Muhamet Nika.
He stated that the settlement was demolished by order of the Central Committee of the Union of Communists "for purely political reasons, fear of changing the national structure and the illegal work of irredentists from Kosovo". Precisely because of this problem from 30 years ago, the Municipality of Ulcinj is threatened with the payment of compensation of more than five million euros. The Commercial Court recently accepted the claim of the company Rekreaturs, from the group of businessman Duško Knežević, which is demanding from the Municipality of Ulcinj around five million euros in damages due to the collapsed tourist resort.
Nika provided "Vijesti" with documentation from the eighties of the last century, which was marked "strictly confidential", from which it can be seen that the problem with the K-1 settlement was discussed even at the presidency of the SFRY.
In the minutes of the session of the Presidency of the SR of Montenegro held on January 13, 1984, it was stated that the President of the Presidency of the SR of Montenegro, Marko Orlandić, informed that Presidency that the problem of the construction of the K-1 resort in Ulcinj was discussed at the Presidency of the SFRY.
"The position was adopted that the Presidency of the SFRY is not competent to solve problems of this kind, but instructs those interested to solve these issues in a regular procedure," the minutes say.
Among other things, the Presidency recommended the Municipality of Ulcinj to come to an agreement with the SIZ for rest and recreation of Kosovo workers regarding compensation and possible removal of facilities from the K-1 settlement. If this judgment of the Commercial Court becomes final, Ulcinj is threatened with bankruptcy, because the total budget of the Municipality is 15 million euros for this year. Rekreaturs is majority owned by Atlas invest (formerly Fin invest), which is controlled by businessman Duško Knežević.
Rekreaturs is the legal successor of the former social enterprise DP Rekreaturs from Priština, which moved its headquarters to Budva at the end of 1999.
Nika asked how the court could prove the legitimacy of the legal heir of the Kosovo union, if it is known for sure that it is a company from Serbia that sold the debt to a Montenegrin company.
"Who guarantees that the court will put an end to the amount imposed and that the Kosovo trade union will not submit the lawsuit tomorrow? Isn't it strange that the Government of Kosovo is silent about this?" asked Nika.
He stated that if someone should already pay for the damage, it should be done by DPS, not the Municipality of Ulcinj.
"The name K-1 means Kosovo one. K-2, i.e. Kosovo two, should have been built as well. The Central Committee then declared against the uncontrolled arrival of guests from Kosovo. DPS is their legal successor and if there is damage, let that party pay for it. The municipality is not to blame," Nika said.
He also criticized the local administration for not discussing it in the municipal parliament.
"Why is our Assembly silent? For more than a decade, we have had no feedback on how state property is being lost year after year at the expense of third parties in the form of phantom companies. Let's remember 'mosquitoes', Partizanski puta, Galeb", Nika said.
He adds that the first court case, the so-called the "mosquitoes affair", several hundred thousand euros from the Municipality's budget poured into the account of an already defunct company.
"It is unclear how the state tolerates the illegal work of local government bodies before and now within the framework of a large coalition, which DPS controls through the Assembly," says Nika.
He highlighted another "strange practice of the Municipality, that its property is defended by the same lawyers who were not appointed by the Assembly".
"This means that they are not subject to the control of the local administration for their success or failure in defending the interests of the Municipality and its citizens," said Nika.
For years, the Municipality of Ulcinj insisted that the court check the plaintiff's registration because, as they claim, it has not yet been established that this company is really the legal heir and investor who claims compensation from the Municipality of Ulcinj.
Construction expert Predrag Hajduković initially determined that the damage caused was about 10,5 million euros, but the sum was halved in the end with a more detailed claim.
The court case has been going on for three decades and is being conducted due to the demolition of the apartment complex of the Kosova trade union on Ulcinj's Velika plaža.
In a disputed procedure, several employees of Rekreaturs from Pristina who escaped to Montenegro in 1999, made a decision to change the headquarters of the company. Later, the company was taken over by the Atlas Group. Along with "K1", Rekreaturs also owned a large union resort in Kamenovo, near Budva, built on 33 square meters.
During the marathon court process, Rekreaturs and Atlas Group claimed for years that the construction facilities were built in accordance with the building permit, and that the Republican Committee for Urban Planning canceled the building permit only after the facilities were built.
Previously, all the decisions and suggestions of the United Nations bodies in Kosovo were rejected, and it is unclear why the representative of the Kosovo Agency for Privatization in Podgorica in November 2008 gave up the appeal for the unfounded registration of the change of headquarters.
Agreement impossible, SIZ Kosovo did not even accept compensation
At the joint session of the Council for Security and National Defense and the Committee for ONO and DSZ, held on September 21, 1982 in Ulcinj, additional information on this dispute was discussed and it was stated that it was not possible to reach an agreement with the SIZ of Kosovo.
"They did not accept either the dislocation or the compensation for the resulting damage, proportionally to the mistakes of the authorities and individuals from Ulcinj that occurred in the process of realizing the investment. That is why the Public Advocate of Ulcinj, at the District Commercial Court in Titograd, initiated the procedure for annulment of the contract on the transfer of land on Velika plaža, which was concluded illegally on the part of Ulcinj", the information reads. It is added that the only remaining possibility is the demolition of the settlement with compensation for the damage to the SIZ of Kosovo caused by the "Ulcina procedures".
The committee mentioned this case because of the problems with the checks of workers from Kosovo and the "illegal work of Iredenta". It was established that 2.222 workers were sent to rest and recreation from ten municipalities of SAP Kosovo.
"Most of them brought checks or vouchers in the amount of more than seven thousand dinars, which is an unusually large amount. It was reported from OOUR Neptun that they could not make the payments even though they did the invoicing in a timely manner. This OOUR owes eight million dinars and if it is not collected, it will be at a loss", it is written in the minutes, which states "strictly confidential". At the meeting, it was stated that "there is a need, in the interest of a more stable security situation in the area of the municipality, and considering that there is illegal work by Iredente in that area, to strengthen the personnel in the SDB, SUP and some administrative bodies".
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