In light of the ongoing political issues and the stagnation in forming a new government following the local elections in Kotor, the joint enterprise between the municipalities of Kotor and Tivat, the Wastewater Treatment Plant (PPOV), is facing a challenging situation as it is unable to secure essential funds from the Kotor city budget for its operations.

Currently, the WWTP, managed by Executive Director Stefan Cobanovic, anticipates total revenues of 418,519 euros this year, which is nearly half of the amount necessary for basic operational sustainability. In the financial plan for 2025, the organization did not factor in the standard subsidies for Kotor’s wastewater treatment services, as the Kotor municipality has yet to draft or finalize its budget for 2025.

The new Kotor parliament, elected during the local elections at the end of September of the previous year, remains unconstituted due to pending appeals lodged by the Kotor DPS with the Constitutional Court. Consequently, WWTP has earmarked nearly all of this year’s investments for its operation to come from Tivat’s budget, which is expected to allocate 360,961 euros for the regular maintenance of the WWTP, in addition to 52,557 euros for investment-related maintenance.

Before the current political impasse, the leadership of WWTP received general approval from the local Secretariat for Revenue, Budget, and Finance of Kotor Municipality to rely on a funding commitment of 450,000 euros. However, uncertainty surrounds the timeline for this financial support, as Kotor’s budget for 2025 has yet to be proposed or approved. This has resulted in a substantial “gap” in WWTP’s financial planning for 2025, as the organization can presently rely solely on revenues from the Tivat Municipality amounting to 413,519 euros, while the total projected WWTP expenses for this year are estimated at 803,396 euros.

Historically, the WWTP has maintained liquidity, consistently operating with a retained profit while fulfilling obligations to its suppliers.

“Given the unpredictable new circumstances in the Municipality of Kotor while drafting this Program, there exists a risk that the Company may struggle to meet its financial obligations to employees and suppliers. Should it be necessary, the Company intends to seek a short-term loan from the Municipality of Tivat until the Kotor situation is resolved, in order to fulfill salary obligations and essential supplier commitments critical for plant operations,” the Program for the WWTP’s Municipal Activities for 2025 states, which has since been adopted by the local parliament in Tivat.

The wastewater treatment plant serving Tivat and Kotor, located in Klačina in Krtoli, is set to process approximately 3.8 million cubic meters of sewage from both municipalities this year. Management estimates that this volume will produce around 1,200 tons of sewage sludge as a by-product from the treatment process in the SBR basins. To treat the 3.8 million cubic meters of sewage, the WWTP will utilize seven tons of polymers for sludge separation and 2,025 tons of lime for sludge stabilization in 228.

Recently, the WWTP began supplying treated water to the Tivat-based company Luštica Development, which utilizes it for irrigation on its golf courses located on the Luštica peninsula. Rather than discharging this water into the sea, the WWTP sells a cubic meter of treated wastewater, which meets all required bacteriological and chemical standards, to Luštica Development at the rate of three cents per cubic meter.

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