Hundreds of residents, representatives of local authorities and businessmen from Ulcinj protested in this city in southern Montenegro, saying that "Ulcinj is not for sale."
The March 22 protest was called due to dissatisfaction regarding the tender for the rental of Ulcinj beaches, which in recent years have been rented by local businessmen, but this year the best offer for renting the beaches was deemed to be that of the Arab company, Eagle Hills.
"The Great Beach is not a desert for someone to build a Dubai on. The Great Beach is a miracle of nature, 20 kilometers of untouched coastline, with warm and healing sand. Our pride and heritage," said Dijana Pellinković, president of the "Ada Bojana" association.
According to her, the residents of Ulcinj are not against progress, but they are against megalomaniacal projects that erase local identity.
"Our community must participate in decision-making. We are raising our voice against centralization," said tenant representative Albert Kastrati.
He assessed that the tender for renting beaches has discriminated against local tenants and favored foreign investors.
The protest in Ulcinj was held despite the fact that Montenegro's Prime Minister, Milojko Spajic, announced on March 20 that Eagle Hills intends to withdraw and hand over the beaches to local tenants.
The Arab company, Eagle Hills, on March 11th submitted the best offer for the four-year lease of nine of the 19 beaches on Ulcinj's Grand Beach.
This caused outrage among current beach tenants and local authorities, who declared that the beaches were being given to foreign investors "through dubious agreements."
After this, as Prime Minister Spajic announced, the president of the Arab company, Mohamed Alabar, withdrew the offer.
"He personally told me that for all the beaches where the people of Ulcinj competed, he is willing to give up or sublease them, as is legally possible," said Spajic.
The Government of Montenegro announced that, according to Spajic's initiative, the investor has decided to hand over the beaches he won through the tender, which were previously rented from local entrepreneurs, to them at the price they offered in the tender.
Eagle Hills, which made the highest bid for the beaches, is a construction company from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The company is known for regional projects, such as the Belgrade Waterfront.
The company has a representative office in Montenegro, which was registered after the expiration of the initial deadline for submitting bids in the tender for the lease of Ulcinj beaches.
The deadline for submitting bids for the tender announced on February 19 was March 4, but it was extended by seven days.
Alabar registered his company on March 6 in Montenegro and applied for the tender. The deadline was extended by the state-owned company that manages beaches in Montenegro.
Investment plans in Ulcinj
Spajiq has informed the people of Ulcinj that in addition to withdrawing from the tender for renting beaches, the company from Abu Dhabi is interested in making investments in the Grand Beach, which is nearly 13 kilometers long and still unbuilt.
He said the company is interested in investing 30 billion euros in a mega-project in Ulcinj, which would include the construction of a large airport, the most modern hospital in the Balkans, a marina and the renovation of Ulcinj's old town.
Last month, Spajic paid an official visit to Dubai, where, as announced on February 13, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government of Montenegro and the Emirates, which provides for the exchange of experiences in the modernization of administration and economic cooperation.
What worries local politicians?
The plan for investments in the mega-project in Ulcinj has not received the approval of the opposition and some local leaders.
The deputy of the Democratic Union of Albanians, Mehmet Zenka, confirmed that during a meeting, Spajic said that the aim of the Arab investors is to rent the entire Grand Beach for 99 years.
He stressed that this is unacceptable, since, although they are not against investments, "Ulqin is not for sale."
According to him, a 99-year lease would mean that someone else would decide on the Grand Beach and not the local community. He added that there are other locations for investment, but not 20 million square meters of the Grand Beach and its surroundings.
Spajic, as Zenka said, only showed an idea plan to investors through a photograph, which was not sufficient for a serious assessment.
A day before the protest, a meeting of the Ulcinj Assembly was held, where new projects for this city were approved in principle.
Among other things, it was approved that all investments be in line with the principles of sustainable development, respecting the planning and strategic documents of the municipality and the state, as well as taking into account economic, ecological and social sustainability.
Abazović demands that the Special Prosecution react
Former Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, who is from Ulcinj, has requested that the Special State Prosecution investigate the case of granting the lease for the Grand Beach, claiming that it is a corrupt act.
He said that Prime Minister Spajic "has promised state and municipal assets without undergoing the relevant procedure."
"Spajić presented a project that is not foreseen in the Spatial Plan of Montenegro, and presented himself as a representative of the company that won the lease. The tender procedure was dubious and the rules for the bank guarantee were changed at the last moment," Abazović told the newspaper "Vijesti".
Montenegro does not have a Spatial Plan as of 2020.
He added that according to the information he has, Mohamed Alabar is unhappy, emphasizing that by withdrawing from the lease, he would lose 100 thousand euros in guarantee.
"They put him in a difficult position. He is very angry and willing to lose money to preserve his reputation," Abazovic said.
Suspicions of irregularities in the tender for the lease of the beaches were expressed from the beginning by local entrepreneurs, who say they are not against investors.
"Through the tender, the deadline of which was postponed, in which Eagle Hills Montenegro participated, an unprecedented organized attack took place, synchronized with the institutions of the system," said the mayor of Ulcinj, Genci Nimanbegu, on March 18.
The Government of Montenegro claimed that the tender was carried out legally and that any other action by the bidders, including the possibility of withdrawal, is a decision that belongs to them.
The people of Ulcinj have launched a petition, which was also signed during the protest, and through it they demand, among other things, the cancellation of the lease tender.
The Big Beach, 13 kilometers long and with an average width of 60 meters, is located five kilometers from Ulcinj, the southernmost city on the Montenegrin coast, located on the border with Albania. REL (A2 Televizion)
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