This year’s budget revision paves the way for financing the remaining segments of the Bar-Boljare highway, extending beyond the previously mentioned Mateševo-Andrijevica section. The proposed budget also includes funds for initiating the Lokanda public-private investment project in Cetinje, as announced by the Action for Social Justice (ASP).

The non-governmental organization reported that the Government approved the budget adjustment this week and submitted it to parliament for discussion and approval, emphasizing the necessity for technical alignment due to recent mergers and formations of new ministries.

“The current budget specifies that funding for the Bar Boljare highway construction, including the Mateševo-Andrijevica section, along with the Adriatic-Ionian Highway project and expressways, will be drawn from the Capital Budget designated for the Traffic Administration, with implementation entrusted to Monteput as the executing entity.”

The revised budget now delineates that the Capital Budget will cover construction projects for the remaining sections of the Bar-Boljare highway, the Adriatic-Ionian highway, and expressways.

The adjustment keeps in place the provision allowing funds for constructing the Mateševo-Andrijevica section at the Transport Administration to be sourced from revenues generated through economic citizenship. This revenue comes from selling Montenegrin passports to foreign nationals,” the ASP statement indicated.

The budget revision also allocates resources for the execution of the public-private partnership project, which the Royal Capital of Cetinje has contracted with a private firm for the construction of the Lokanda Hotel, including an underground parking facility and the surface development of Artists’ Square.

According to the report, the project is being undertaken via a special purpose vehicle set up by a private partner, with co-financing provided by the public partner from the capital budget of the Ministry of Public Works allocated for development projects in the Royal Capital.

The revised budget has earmarked 800 thousand euros for this expense in 2025, as per ASP.

“At the end of March, the Royal Capital of Cetinje announced the signing of a public-private partnership agreement with ‘Talija Company’ from Herceg Novi for the construction of the Lokanda Hotel, which includes an underground garage and the development of Artists’ Square.”

It was revealed that this was the inaugural public-private partnership agreement under the new Public-Private Partnership Law.

The investment implementation timeframe is set for 30 months, which comprises a maximum of six months for preparing project and technical documentation and up to 24 months for execution. The operational phase will commence upon receiving written approval from the Public Partner and will last for 30 years.

“The hotel is expected to feature 48 rooms and a parking facility with 130 spaces. The total investment is projected to be around 14 million euros,” the statement concludes.

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