MANS reveals new problems with the high-rise next to the Podgorica Hotel
Zarko Buric, owner of “Normal Tours” company
The Capital of Podgorica sold the land slots next to the Podgorica Hotel, the site of the new high-rise, to the “Normal Tours” company, at significantly lower value that it was its market value. The documents is possession of MANS Investigation Center show that the value was lower due to an omission the Real Estate Administration made while estimating the value of the land slots.
At the end of 2014, the Capital ordered the Real Estate Administration to estimate the value of six land slots of the total surface of 1,312 square meters, which were to be sold. Dragan Kovacevic, as the director of the Real Estate Administration, formed a commission to appraise the said real estate, and apart from himself, the commission also included the lawyer Slavko Simovic and the construction engineer Milan Mirkovic.
As stated in the appraisal of the said real estate, on 26 December 2014, the commission examined the property and determined that its value was €603,375.68, or €459.89 per square meter of the land on which “Normal Tours”, owned by Zarko Buric, is building the controversial high-rise.
However, the commission members mention in their report that they were not provided with a copy of the valid urban plan when appraising the land plots sold to Buric, nor did they know how the plots would be used. Instead, the commission examined the “unofficial documents”, as the commission members refer to them, and determined that the most of the plots are roads, while some of them would be used for a business facility consisting of a basement, ground level and six floors.
Only to remind, according to the construction permit, Buric is currently building a 13-story facility.
The plots estimated by the Commission belong to the detailed urban plan “Recreational and cultural zone on the bank of Moraca – southern part,” which was last modified in 2012, when the facility, which is being built right next to the “Podgorica” Hotel, was included for the first time.
The said plan does not contain information on the number of stories – only on the maximum gross surface of the facility that may be built on the plot next to the hotel. Therefore, it is not clear how Kovacevic and his colleagues concluded that the facility would consist of six stories, nor what the “official documents” used for the appraisal were.
There is no doubt, though, that Buric is building a facility twice bigger than the one used for the appraisal by the commission formed by Kovacevic. The question arising here is what the estimated value of the plots would be, in case the commission used updated information and the fact that the facility that would occupy them would have 13 stories instead of six.
MANS Investigation Center has tried to get an answer to the question why the commission made appraisal based on „unofficial data“ and why they did not have necessary information from the director or the Real Estate Administration Dragan Kovacevic. We asked Kovacevic whether he had contacted representatives of the Capital or the buyer, Zarko Buric, with regard to the appraisal, which could have affected the estimated value of the land. We did not have any reply before the release of this article.
On the other hand, the owner of „Normal Tours“, Zarko Buric, told us that his company had been familiar with the work of the commission, that they had complained about the appraisal, as they thought that the estimated prices were too high, but the complaint had been rejected. Despite the formal complaint, the fact is that Zarko Buric bought the said land plots at the price set by the commission.
Concerning the Capital, questions asked to the mayor Slavoljub Stijepovic were answered by the Public Relations Bureau. They only briefly mentioned that the commission formed by the Real Estate Administration had made the appraisal of the land plots on the basis of available parameters. The Capital was not willing to comment the commission’s findings, nor the fact that the property had been appraised on the basis of „unofficial documents“, as stated in the appraisal report. We did not get an answer to the question if the Mayor Stijepovic had had direct communication with the buyer Zarko Buric over the appraisal and sale of the land plots in question.
Buric: I’ve known Kovacevic and Stijepovic for over 20 years
According to Buric, the question of his private communication with representatives of the Capital City or the Real Estate Agency over the appraisal is not worth answering. “It is beyond reason to ask a person doing business in Montenegro for many years if he/she knows public person. Of course, I’ve known all those persons you mention for more than 20 years”, Buric said, but did not answer if he had had private communication with those persons on the occasion of the business in question. Commenting the price at which he bought the land plot, the owner of the “Normal” thinks that it would be a good idea to “compare the prices at which the land owned by the Capital is sold at similar locations through public auctions or through extension of urban parcels.”
I invite you to visit the construction site of the new facility near the “Podgorica” Hotel and see for yourselves all our “illegal and suspicious actions” and whether the investor is building in compliance with the project and building license”, Buric said.
Suspicious deals with government earned him millions
Buric is perceived as a businessman close to the ruling DPS, which can be concluded from jobs he has closed with the government or senior officials of the party. The Government of Montenegro sold in 2006 its major state-owned share of “UTIP Crne Gora”, including the camp and hotel “Zlatica”, as well as hotels “Ljubovic” and “Crna Gora”, to the Buric’s “Normal Company” for €4.76 million. The Police Directorate, then headed by Veselin Veljovic, current secretary of the National Security Council, repurchased the camp “Zlatica” for the needs of special forces for €8.3 million.
After that transaction, in 2012, Veljovic bought an apartment on a prestigious location in Podgorica from Buric’s company, way below the market value, which is evident from the documents MANS Investigation Center acquired the end of the last year. Veljovic bought a 135 square meter apartment with a garage in an apartment building belonging to “Normal Company”, on the Boulevard of Sveti Petar Cetinjski, for €107,672. The price of €686 per square meter is way below the market value, which can be confirmed by the fact that Veljovic’s neighbors paid between €1,600 and €2,200 per square meter. MANS had earlier called the Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnic to include the data on the properties of the former police official into the investigation on sales of the camp-hotel “Zlatica”, which involves Veljovic as well.
This text is created with the support of the European Union within the project “Zero Tolerance to Corruption”. Network for Affirmation of Non-Governmental Sector – MANS is solely responsible for the contents of this article, and the views taken herein shall not in any case be considered as those of the European Union.
Dejan Milovac (MANS)
Tina Popović (Vijesti)
