For nearly two years, the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism, and State Property has neglected to verify whether individual apartment owners in the upscale “Dukley” complex in Zavala are constructing and expanding in violation of regulations, thereby altering the main project and causing disturbances to their neighbors.

A report was submitted on behalf of the client by Dragan Šoć, a lawyer from Podgorica, almost two years ago. Despite several urgent follow-ups, he has yet to receive any response from the director or the Building Inspectorate.

According to Slaven Radunović from the department, the inspector can take no action until they receive the requested documentation from the Municipality of Budva. However, they failed to respond to further inquiries after the local government clarified that the Building Inspection had not contacted them, and that there was no need to do so, given that the required documentation has been with the Ministry since the project’s inception in Zavala.

Šoć informed “Vijesti” that his client, SR, who owns a residence in the luxurious “Dukley” resort, is also facing issues with a neighbor who has enclosed the roof terrace with solid material, altering the building’s appearance from the original plans.

“On the southeast side of building 17, according to cadastral plot 2922/12, an extension was made at the second-floor level, and that addition was not documented in the cadastral plot,” Šoć stated.

Due to this, he has reached out to the ministry led by Slaven Radunović several times since 2023 to conduct field inspections, but to no avail.

“I am genuinely astonished that nearly two years have passed without the competent inspection addressing my report of illegal construction and informing me of the outcome, especially since it is a relatively straightforward task that could be completed in just a few days,” he remarked.

He noted that the signs of illegal construction are easily visible.

“I see no reason for the inspection not to take place. As you can see from the documentation, I have repeatedly urged both in writing and verbally for a response to my application, most recently on March 26 this year. Not once have I received a reply. This behavior leads me to conclude that the Ministry simply does not want to conduct the inspection. I can only speculate about the reasons, but it is evident that, for some reason, ‘Duklja’ is untouchable and above the law,” Şoć told “Vijesti.”

They are searching for the main project that does not exist.

The Ministry claims in their responses to the editorial team that the acting inspector has requested and is awaiting documentation from the Municipality of Budva.

“The acting inspector has sent a request to the Municipality of Budva for the main project, and the inspection will proceed after receiving the requested documentation,” they responded to the newspaper.

However, the Municipality of Budva refutes that anyone from the Ministry has reached out to them.

“Up until the moment of responding to your inquiry via official correspondence through the registry office of the Municipality of Budva, the request from the acting inspector has not been received,” they indicated.

They further clarified that the construction permit for the high-end tourist villa complex was issued by the Ministry of Economic Development, now succeeded by the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism, and State Property. The case files containing project documentation remain archived within that department.

The former head of the Ministry of Economic Development was Branislav Gvozdenović.

The Municipality of Budva also noted in its responses that Gvozdenović’s department had authorized a building permit for the construction of a high-category tourist villa complex consisting of 32 villas with accompanying facilities, totaling a gross developed area of 39,908.4 square meters…

“…The construction of this complex is planned on parts of urban plot number I, which includes corresponding segments of cadastral plots no. 2921/1, 2921/2, 2922/1, 2922/2, 2922/6, 2922/7, 2922/8, 2925, and 2927, all located in Budva Municipality. The Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Budva has just issued decision number 06-02-U-756/9/2011/60 on the change of investor dated July 7,” the Municipality of Budva responded and provided “Vijesti” with documentation regarding the “Dukley” complex owned by Budva, which includes two decisions, one of which was issued by the then-competent Ministry.

Following such an explanation from the Municipality of Budva, the editorial team reiterated its inquiries to Radunović’s department, but received no replies.

Šoć: Unacceptable neglect or procrastination

Šoć critiques this situation as either “unacceptable neglect or an effort to delay and pass the buck.” “The response from the Municipality of Budva clearly illustrates that the Ministry bears full responsibility. It is unacceptable that officials in the Ministry are unaware of their obligations regarding documentation or attempt to shift that responsibility elsewhere,” argued Šoć.

He emphasized that illegal construction has long been an issue and that this case serves as just one example.

“From the current ‘battle’ against illegal construction, one can only deduce that the state has lost. It lacks the political will to address this problem decisively and without compromise, as well as the capacity to do so. It is absurd how each new Minister of Urban Planning promises to fight illegal construction resolutely only to forget that promise the very next day. This example shows that they don’t even act on reported cases. One can only imagine how they manage situations without any complaints of illegal construction. It would be intriguing to ascertain how many buildings in Montenegro were constructed legally versus those that were not. Unfortunately, it appears that the space in Montenegro is treated carelessly, as seen in the recent example of Velika Plaza in Ulcinj,” stated Šoć.

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