The Kotor - Lovćen cable car will be put into commercial use on May 1, as all the problems that threatened to prevent it from happening have been resolved.
The Administration for Capital Projects and the Montenegrin Electric Distribution System (CEDIS) confirmed to "Vijesitma" that they have fulfilled the tasks that the Government obliged them to do last month. "Vijesti" in the company "Kotor Cable car" has unofficially learned that they have submitted a request to CEDIS for permanent connection of the cable car to the energy system, followed by the procedure of purchasing the 3,8 million euros of infrastructure they built, which was an obligation of the state.
"We expect that the process regarding the purchase will be resolved quickly. The problems have been solved and the cable car will open on May 1", said the source of "Vijesti".
The launch of the Kotor-Lovćen cable car into commercial use in May was recently called into question because the Government did not fulfill the obligations defined in the construction contract, signed in December 2021 with the concessionaire that forms the consortium "Novi Volvox" & "Leitner Italija". According to that contract, the Government had the obligation to build public infrastructure, including electrical energy infrastructure, and to provide the concessionaire with a connection to the network by April 15, 2023 at the latest. As this was not possible, the concessionaire accepted the Government's request to build the largest part of the infrastructure, on the basis of which a contract on the construction of the infrastructure was signed on April 26, 2023, with the obligation to purchase it after commissioning.
The concessionaire built the TS 35/10 kV Kuk substation and the associated 35/10 kV transmission line, provided the usage permits and fully fulfilled the contractual obligation. Those works cost about 3,8 million euros.
Through its conclusions, the Government gave the Capital Projects Administration a deadline of one month to, among other things, prepare a report on the supervision of the construction of the access road at the Kuk location and the parking lot with infrastructure at the Dub location, to enable the registration of the substation and to install new cells at the substation in Grblje, and together with the Montenegrin Electric Transmission System (CGES), urgently move the pillar of the transmission line Lastva - Tivat. The Ministry of Energy is also tasked to point out to CEDIS the urgency of enabling the connection to the electricity grid of the company "Žičara Kotor-Lovćen", the issuance of electricity bills and the purchase of the built infrastructure by April 15 of this year.
The Administration for Capital Projects pointed out that all the contracted works have been completed and that they have handed over the facilities to the Ministry of Tourism and the concessionaire.
Previously, there were remaining works on the erection of an electrical transmission pole at the Dub location, because it was waiting for the authorities to agree on a date with the contractor and inspections, in order to provide an alternative power supply to the consumers of the three coastal cities, which would have to be temporarily disconnected from the network during the period of these works. As they said from the Administration, that work has now been completed with all contracted works, and the handover to the Department of Tourism and the concessionaire has been completed.
In addition to these, they state that the handover took place after the completion of clearing and removal of minor defects, which were at the Kuk location. They also pointed out that they were provided with the final report of the expert supervision of the access road to this location.
"The obligation to install the equipment and all the accompanying work for the measuring cell in TS 35/10kV 'Grbalj', which is located in the parking lot of the departure station Dub, has been completed," stated the Directorate for Capital Projects.
The Administration for Capital Projects and the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System confirmed to "Vijesitma" that they had fulfilled the tasks that the Government had committed them to last month.
CEDIS reminded that the obligations of that company were defined by the Agreement on the construction of infrastructure for connection, which was signed with the concessionaire by the then Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism, and that they had fulfilled their part of the work.
"We expect that at the beginning of this week we will also receive the remaining documentation from 'Žičara', which we need for permanent connection and continuation of its work. "The process of purchasing the 35 kV connection infrastructure built by the concessionaire has begun, which will be done when all the prerequisites are met in accordance with the regulations," CEDIS said, but did not specify how much money it was.
According to the company, CEDIS has hired an independent appraiser and the evaluation of the connection infrastructure built by the concessionaire has been completed.
Green light for credit for bob and other contents
The company "Kotor Cable car" received the approval of the Government to take an investment loan from the bank in the amount of 3.000.000 euros and invest the money in the construction of equipment for mountain bobsleigh and other facilities.
Information about this was adopted at the last session of the Government. It states that "Žičara" approached the Ministry of Tourism at the beginning of April in order to obtain approval, and that the loan was taken for a period of six and a half years.
"The list of conditions includes a long-term investment loan, and, among other things, security in the form of a continuous mortgage in the amount of 10.000.000 euros for a period of ten years on the land described in LN 1678 KO Njeguši, Cetinje. The purchase price of the land is EUR 900.000," the information reads.
The concessionaire, according to the contract he signed with the government, has the obligation to inform the executive authority about this before signing the debt contract.
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