(Podgorica, 17 November 2011) – According to information obtained by MANS researchers, the son of DPS vice-President Svetozar Marović, Miloš Marović and Dragan Bećirović – who was murdered in Budva at the beginning of this year – are behind the Cyprus based company Numerico Trading Ltd. The Municipality of Budva has been servicing a 1.6-million euro debt on behalf of this company for several years now.
According to the information that MANS had access to, the late Bećirović is still listed as its director and owner of a third of its shares. The remaining 2/3rds of the company are owned by Miloš Marović and Dragoljub Dvojaković from Belgrade. Numerico Trading was registered in Cyprus in October 2005.
The Aqua Park story begins in March 2006, when Numerico was introduced to Budva city councilors as a famous Spanish company with a depth of experience in the building of water parks. According to some Budva municipal functionaries at the time, Marović and Bećirović’s company was an experienced firm, in spite of the fact that it had only been established a few months prior to concluding a land-purchase agreement with municipal authorities for lands in Topliš (Budva).
The contract was signed by then mayor Rajko Kuljača, on behalf of the Municipality of Budva, while Marović and Bećirović’s legal representative, Branko Čolović, signed the agreement on behalf of Numerico Trading Ltd. Ćolović had previously represented the Bećirovićs (and Ana Kolarević) during the privatization of Budva’s Hotel Avala. The contract was for a 20-year lease on 50,000 m2 and an annex to the agreement also stipulated that the Municipality of Budva would act as guarantor for a 1.6-million euro loan from Montenegrobank. Budva’s parliament approved these arrangements after receiving assurances from Kuljača – as well as municipal VP Lazar Rađenović and municipal manager Aleksandar Tičić – that Numerico Trading was indeed a renowned firm.
Tičić, who is now the Prime Minister’s adviser, worked at the time on convincing city councilors and the general public that the agreement – signed with investors whose names were unknown – could in no way be damaging since: “only [Numerico] would be affected in the case of failing to return the credit, while the Municipality would become the owner of everything.” As it stands, Budva simply remains the owner of a 1.6-million euro bill that Marović and Bećirović left the municipality with. The burden of this debt will now have to be serviced by taxpayers.
The Cyprus-based company also left behind equipment that was ostensibly acquired for building the Aqua Park. This equipment is still being warehoused in 10 containers that are stored in depots 17 and 25 of the Port of Bar’s container terminal.
According to the Central Registry of the Commercial Court in Podgorica, Numerico Trading Ltd. is the founder of Aqua Park DOO based in Budva. The executive director of Aqua Park DOO is Blažo Radoman, who represents the municipality of Budva in a number of public companies, including the infamous Budva Holding (where he replaced the former director Lazar Rađenović).
When one considers the true owners of the company whose debts the municipality is now servicing, it becomes clear why Kuljača, Rađenović and Tičić invested enormous efforts into hiding this information from Montenegro’s public.
Such behavior on the part of public officials is sufficient cause for suspecting that this was a well-planned and well-organized attempt to misuse their powers to harm Budva’s budget by millions of dollars. Someone will have to answer for these actions.
