Negotiations between the government and investors regarding the opening of the city-hotel "Sveti Stefan" seem to be at a standstill at the moment. It seems that, given that spring is coming soon, Sveti Stefan will not be opened this year either, neither as a hotel nor as a city.
This was told to "Vijesti" by the Initiative for Returning the City of Hotel "Sveti Stefan" to Full State Ownership, which brings together the residents of Paštrovići and Budva.
As they emphasized, “they are sorry that Novak Đoković"...at least so far, he has not succeeded in bringing the positions of the Government and investors closer together."
"It seems that one of the obstacles to reaching an agreement was the construction of a condo hotel with apartments for sale in Miločer. If this is indeed true, it means that the opening of Sveti Stefan depends on the building with apartments for sale being built in Miločer Park, about a kilometer away from Sveti Stefan. A city with over 500 years of history and tradition, which was the administrative and cultural center of the Paštrović family, a tourist pearl of the former Yugoslavia, and in recent decades a national symbol of Montenegro, must not depend on whether apartments for sale will be built in Miločer or not. The state must be clear here. It may not be worthwhile for the investor to open Sveti Stefan until the status of a condo hotel with apartments for sale is clear - whether it will be built or not. We believe that if Sveti Stefan could successfully operate as a city-hotel in the golden age of Yugoslavia, independently of some other tourist-residential facilities nearby, why couldn't it be today," the Initiative says.
They called on the Government and the investor to agree on the opening of Sveti Stefan and to postpone the issue of the condo hotel with apartments for sale in Miločer until later and, as they assessed, "to be resolved gradually, on the fly, preferably in accordance with European standards, because these pearls are part of European cultural heritage, our pride before Europe."
"It is also very important at this moment to complete the Miločer protection process, which was initiated in 2021 for a short-term mandate." Mladena Zagarčanina at the head of the Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (to whom we are very grateful) and has not yet been completed. Every country in the world would be proud to have pearls like Sveti Stefan and Miločer and would not spare the means and efforts to preserve them. Probably, such pearls in some other country would already be placed under the protection of UNESCO World Heritage, so no one would think of building residential buildings with apartments for sale in such an area”, emphasize the locals gathered around the Initiative.
They call on the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage to, despite everything, bring the process of protecting Miločer Park to an end, that is, to the adoption of a decision on establishing the status of a cultural property.
"Last year, the European Parliament called for the protection of Miločer and Sveti Stefan in a report, so we should react accordingly. Any delay in the process of protecting Miločer raises suspicions that someone is bothered by the protection of Miločer. In other words, it would mean that someone is bothered by Montenegro legally protecting another of its national cultural and natural pearls. Why would that bother anyone? We hope that this is not the case and we try to believe that this is not possible in the 21st century, in a country that is on the verge of joining the European Union. Accordingly, the process of protecting Miločer Park should not be delayed or hindered," they point out in a letter submitted to "Vijesti".
As they emphasize, "Sveti Stefan should work as a city and as a hotel, in winter and summer."
"The possible conditioning of the opening of Sveti Stefan by the construction of a condo hotel with apartments in Miločer is unacceptable and humiliating for both the Paštrovići and the Municipality of Budva and the whole of Montenegro. We hope that the Government of Montenegro, despite all the complexity of the situation, will resolve the status of Sveti Stefan in accordance with the law and the public interest of Montenegro, in a manner befitting Sveti Stefan, the pearl of our and European heritage. Sveti Stefan is like a kind of "dowry" that Montenegro gives to Europe by joining the EU, and thus it officially becomes part of the European heritage. However, Sveti Stefan is not alienated from Montenegro in this way, but, on the contrary, it is returned to its warm embrace, possession, ownership, for the benefit of all locals, citizens of Montenegro and tourists, for the dignity of this country, far from petty personal interests that alienate it and keep it away from us," they conclude in the Initiative for the Return of the Hotel City "Sveti Stefan" to Full State Ownership.
"Vijesti" previously reported that the once trademark of Montenegrin tourism, the city-hotel "Sveti Stefan" could finally open its doors to guests on May 1st of this year, citing an agreement between the Government and other domestic stakeholders on the one hand and the tenant, the company "Adriatic Properties" and its partners, on the other.
In the last months of last year, several meetings between representatives of the Government, HTP “Miločer”, “Sveti Stefan Hotel”, the Public Company for Coastal Zone Management and the Municipality of Budva, as well as a meeting of the Prime Minister Milojko Spajić with the owners of "Adriatic Properties" and "Aman", which manages the hotel, resulted in the drafting of an agreement, which was allegedly signed by all parties, but since then there has been a lull.
The agreement allegedly envisaged the formation of a special advisory body to monitor the implementation of obligations for the inclusion of the local population and the tourist promotion of Sveti Stefan, which includes the preservation of cultural identity, improvement of the economic position and the active involvement of the local population in the operations of the tourist complex. This body was to be led by Novak Djokovic.
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