The Municipal Company Parking System Tivat (PST) has not adhered to its Work Plan and Program for this year by failing to participate in the recent tender issued by the Public Enterprise Morsko dobro for leasing a “temporary parking lot” on Šetalište Seljanovo Street in Seljanovo, close to the future city marina for municipal berths.

This information is derived from statements made by the executive director of PST, Snežana Vukosavović Novosel (New), as outlined in the company’s work program for 2025, which was sanctioned by the Board of Directors and approved by the relevant Secretariat for Transport and Housing and Communal Services. It was subsequently adopted by the Municipal Assembly during the session held on April 16.

“In 2025, DOO Parking servis aims to continue its efforts to expand capacity, particularly in general parking lots, especially in the Seljanovo area, to effectively contribute to addressing the city’s longstanding traffic issues, specifically the regulation of stationary traffic. We anticipate that property-legal relations will be resolved and entrusted to the Municipal Assembly. Our plans also include initiatives towards Morsko dobro regarding the management of part of the parking lot in Donji Seljanovo, for which we have already submitted a request,” states the Annual Program for Performing Utility Activities with the Financial Plan for 2025 of DOO Parking servis Tivat, prepared on December 9 of last year.

Recently, the Coastal Zone issued a parking space to the private company “Corleone” from Tivat, located in front of the private marina with paid yacht moorings. This area has now been closed at the request of the Municipality on Šetalište Seljanovo Street. Consequently, the Municipality, after extensive discussions with the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, has finally secured the location of the former marina “Porto in” for its requirements. It plans to install communal moorings for local residents’ boats at that spot, though this has placed the Municipality in a difficult position, as it effectively lacks parking space in the immediate vicinity of the new city communal marina.

A private tenant has taken over a location that previously offered public parking space for free, which was built by the Municipality. According to the tender conducted by Morsko dobro, this tenant can now charge for parking. Meanwhile, the city of Tivat faces a chronic shortage of public parking spaces, particularly those regulated through PST.

An article in “Vijesti” regarding this matter has led to controversy between the Coastal Zone and the Municipality, with the PE accusing the Municipality of “incompetence, passivity, and delay from certain local structures.” They emphasized that while providing opinions on the amendments to the Program of Temporary Facilities in the Coastal Zone at the end of last year, the Municipality did not request location 5.62, where the disputed parking lot is situated, nor did it participate in the lease tender. The Municipality retorted that the Coastal Zone is acting against the interests of coastal municipalities, handing over city infrastructure, and employing various methods to exclude local municipalities from decision-making about their own coastline.

In light of the Ministry’s approval of the contentious Plan for Temporary Facilities in the Coastal Zone, which has transformed a location with a long-established public parking lot into a “temporary parking lot,” the President of the Tivat Municipal Council, Miljan Marković, has entered the public discourse. He defended Vukosavović Novosel, asserting that “the oversight regarding the disputed parking location’s assignment to the Municipality occurred, but not due to the Parking Service or its director, but rather due to the municipal administration and the Mayor of the Municipality personally, Željko Komnenović.”

Following the Tivat parliament chief’s intervention, the director publicly disputed the Municipality’s assertions, firmly denying any responsibility from PST.

“The PST neither provides nor submits evaluations regarding the Program of Temporary Facilities in the Coastal Zone. This responsibility lies with the Municipality and its relevant bodies… Therefore, we cannot be held accountable for the fact that parking areas near the future city marina in Donji Seljanovo are not designated as ‘for the needs of the Municipality of Tivat’ and are thus not specified in the Program of Temporary Facilities,” she stated. Vukosavović Novosel added that last October, the company proactively expressed its willingness to manage the parking lots in Donji Seljanovo to JP Morsko Dobro, showcasing its commitment to capacity expansion and service quality improvement.

“Regrettably, we have not received any information explaining why this initiative was not accepted or included in the Temporary Facilities Program submitted to the Ministry, or rather, the Government of Montenegro,” Vukosavović Novosel highlighted, without clarifying why PST did not bid for the Coastal Zone Authority’s tender.

During the public dispute with the Municipality, she mentioned that “this parking lot was not marked as a site ‘for the needs of the Municipality of Tivat,’ and hence neither the Municipality nor our company took part in the Public Call issued by JP Morsko dobro on March 6, 2025, lasting 22 days.”

“We only became aware of this call later, after it had concluded, with no prior notification or consent from the founder’s representatives for potential participation,” Vukosavović-Novosel clarified, mentioning that in a contrasting case, she did receive input and approval from the Municipality for PST to bid in the second tender for a parking lot lease at Tivat Airport, which PST ultimately secured.

Morsko dobro: They should have competed like Kotor did

In a response to the Municipality’s objections, Morsko dobro confirmed that PST was indeed expected to participate in the tender as the location was not designated for the Municipality’s needs in the Amendments and Supplements to the Program, which were adopted by the ministry. Morsko dobro informed the local administration that as such, “the public invitation could not be published with a condition not contained in the Program.”

“The municipality certainly had the opportunity to participate in the public tender as a bidder, as demonstrated by the Municipality of Kotor, which engaged a company it founded to take part in public tenders for temporary parking lots throughout its territory…” stated the Coastal Zone in its response to the Municipality, emphasizing that the tender was conducted appropriately and that they cannot retroactively rescind it from the private individual to whom it was leased.

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