The current tenants of Ulcinj's beaches are demanding the cancellation of the tender won by a foreign investor, who made the highest bid to rent the city's beaches in Montenegro.
In addition, they are requesting the extension of the lease contracts signed last year, with the same conditions.
This was announced at a press conference on March 18.
Their requests were also supported by the mayor, Genci Nimanbegu.
The tender for the four-year lease of Ulcinj's beaches has caused a revolt among the current tenants and local authorities, who believe that the beaches are being left to foreign investors "through dubious agreements reached behind closed doors."
"An organized and unprecedented attack, synchronized with the institutions of the system, occurred during the prolonged tender, in which the Eagle Hills Montenegro company participated," Nimanbegu assessed a day ago.
The Arab company Eagle Hills has submitted the highest bids for the largest number of beaches on the Grand Beach in Ulcinj, which have so far been leased mainly to local entrepreneurs.
Following the announcement on March 11 that Eagle Hills had "won" the largest number of beaches, a protest was organized, stating that this was unacceptable to the local population.
Then, the Arab investor made an offer to the local residents.
The Eagle Hills company announced that, if they rent the beaches, they will leave them to the current tenants at the price they offered in the tender.
This was said on March 16 by Mohamed Alabbara, chairman of Eagle Hills Properties.
"This decision reflects Mr. Alabbara's commitment to supporting local businesses, preserving livelihoods, and investing in beach infrastructure," the statement said.
The president of the Ulcinj Beach Tenants Association, Prela Shkrela, said that a tenant cannot re-rent the beach to someone else.
"There is no legal basis for this and none of us would accept it," he said.
Regarding Eagle Hills' statement that it will "return" the beaches won in the tender to the previous tenants, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty requested an explanation from the Government of Montenegro, whether such an action could call into question the tender procedure.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic's office responded that the tender was conducted legally and that this is a priority for the Government.
"Any further action by the first-ranked bidders, which is in accordance with the legal framework, is exclusively their decision, which they make based on their business plans," the response states.
The Government also confirmed that Spajic, during his visit to Dubai in mid-February, met with Alabbar.
On that occasion, at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Montenegro's investment potential was presented to this and other investors and companies.
The Arab investor showed up unannounced at the meeting.
Due to the residents' dissatisfaction with the tender results, Spajic met with representatives of the Ulcinj Municipality on March 14, where Alabbara was also present.
This was confirmed by the mayor, Nimanbegu, who said he was very surprised, because Alabbar's presence had not been announced.
In that case, according to Nimanbeg, the Arab businessman expressed interest in investing in Ulcinj.
"I have not seen any project, any documents, and we are waiting for Alabbara or the Government to announce whether it is a joint project or two different projects... and then we can talk about investments in Ulcinj," he said.
Nimanbeg recalled that the planning documents for the Grand Beach envisage hotel complexes with a total of 15,600 beds.
Eagle Hills, which has placed the highest bids for nine beaches in Ulcinj, is a construction company from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
They have participated in several regional projects, including the Belgrade Waterfront.
The Eagle Hills Montenegro representative office, which has as its activity "development of construction projects", was registered in Montenegro a month and a half ago.
The company's capital is one euro, and the sole founder is Jaona Investment LCC, which is described online as an "investment company that invests in natural resources."
At today's conference, representatives of the Association of Tenants of Plazhit i Madh, the Association of Restaurants in Buna, the "Ada Bojana" Association and the local community of Shtoj, declared that they are not against investors, but they first want to see how they conceive the vision of the development of Plazhit i Madh.
However, they are not giving up on their efforts to cancel the tender for the rental of the beaches and have announced a protest on March 22 and the initiation of a petition on the issue.
The Big Beach, with a length of 13 kilometers and an average width of 60 meters, is located five kilometers from Ulcinj, the southernmost city on the Montenegrin coast. REL
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