As they stated, it appears that only the very rich can afford luxury real estate in that prestigious location, and this confirms many public theses that the goal of privatizing that location, almost to the point of "sea foam", has been reduced to a tourist "paradise for wealthy clientele."
"One of the examples of purchase contracts in the possession of ASP shows that the company Accelerator Global, whose real owner is hidden behind a company registered in an offshore zone, in 2013 contracted for the purchase of a 158 square meter apartment in one of the residential buildings in Porto Montenegro for a gross price of 1.3 million euros. After the price was paid, the company was registered in 2019, but a year later the apartment was sold to businessman Veselin Pejović from Nikšić for 1.5 million euros in ten installments. Pejović was registered as the owner in September 2022, and the following month he transferred the apartment to Dubravka Pejović (according to previously available information, this was his wife) by means of a gift contract," ASP stated for the portal.
That the prices of luxury housing units in Porto Montenegro are truly "luxurious", it is added, is also shown by the example of a duplex of just over 400 square meters (with garage and non-residential space), which was traded by the Sarajevo company "Avaz Roto Press" in 2024. The price from the contract is around 3.1 million, plus VAT.
"According to available public data, the ownership of this company is linked to Fahrudin Radončić. One example of an apartment sale from 2020 shows that the company "Blue Palm", which was founded a year earlier by a company based in the Central Free Zone of Dubai, contracted to purchase a residential unit of about 100 square meters (with garage space) for a price of about 530 thousand euros, plus VAT. The property was registered in the name of the buyer two years later," it was indicated.
As it is pointed out, another example of an apartment sale from 2022 refers to the Podgorica company "Gufo", which purchased two apartments with about 150 square meters each (in addition to a garage space and three square meters of non-residential space each).
"The price of the apartments was around 862 thousand, plus VAT. This company was mentioned in the media that year as offering guarantees for bail to the arrested Petar Lazović. Some examples of real estate purchases in Porto Montenegro show that certain properties have been blocked by a prohibition on disposal due to suspicions that they were acquired through criminal activities. One example shows that a duplex of around 450 square meters (with garages), purchased by the company Vis Investment, is under blockade. The contract for the purchase of that residential unit dates back to 2018 and was worth over 2.8 million euros, plus VAT," ASP said.
As it is emphasized, some of the examples also show that, in the meantime, previous prohibitions on the disposal of real estate have been erased. Such is the case with Israeli Michael David Greenfield and related companies, which were previously established due to suspicions of money laundering, they add.
"This is the false identity of the Israeli, who pleaded guilty to fraud, forgery and money laundering in that country. Examples of purchase contracts, which are in the possession of ASP, show that VAT is stated to be subject to changes in accordance with the regulations, and interestingly, they contain a provision according to which the penalty in the event of termination of the contract is 25 percent of the total purchase price. The public often points out that the luxury resort Porto Montenegro has enabled Montenegro to compete with respectable European tourist zones in terms of tourism. However, the average Montenegrin citizen will hardly have the opportunity to drink coffee on one of the luxury restaurant terraces in this zone in his lifetime, while buying real estate in this location "has made his dream come true", said ASP, noting that the former government presented the project as a privatization success.
As they point out, some of the citizens of Tivat, with whom ASP spoke, believe that Porto Montenegro has undoubtedly brought great value to the city, but that on the other hand, it has significantly increased the regular living costs of citizens in this coastal city.
It was explained that capital from the United Arab Emirates is behind the Porto Montenegro project today.
"ASP has previously indicated several times that the original foreign partner had dictated key conditions for investing in that location, so the preferential tax regime for yachting tourism was one of those demands (the state has so far given up 104 million euros in revenue based on exemptions for yacht fuel) and represented its direct favoritism, while certain demands of the then investor (related to the lease) had no legal basis," it was pointed out.
The sale of the assets of the once renowned Tivat-based military ship repair company in an extremely attractive location, along with the granting of a multi-decade lease of the sea area and part of the coastal zone, represented one of the first hybrid privatization models implemented by the then Government of Montenegro, they remind.
"The tender offered only the sale of the company's assets, which were located on land and along the coast, but the selected buyer was also given the right to lease the coastal zone for a period of as much as 90 years. In the first years of the investment, the foreign owner increased the company's share capital through loan agreements with its affiliated companies, which were transactions for which there was no obligation to pay taxes, and the tourism project changed owners in 2015. Through the change of the company's headquarters from one European country to another European country and the establishment of a subsidiary company, to which Porto Montenegro was first sold, and then resold, and as ASP previously announced, this strategic investor of the Government of Montenegro also avoided the application of Montenegrin tax laws regarding the payment of capital gains tax. The state could have earned about 8.7 million euros on this basis, but the owner at the time took advantage of the benefits in the tax jurisdiction of Malta and the fact that Montenegro has a double taxation avoidance agreement with that country," ASP concluded.
