For over five years, “Carinvest” company, owned by the President of the Municipality of Budva, Marko Carević, has been occupying nearly half a million square meters of the state-owned land in Krimovica, the Municipality of Kotor. The authorities in charge of safeguarding state property have not problematized this case so far.
In the meantime, Carević built agricultural facilities on the state land that spans over 6,000 square meters, contrary to the law and without a building permit, according to data from the MANS Investigative Centre.
According to MANS’ data, occupation began in 2015 when Carević built first facilities on the state-owned land with the intention of opening livestock farms at the site. The following year, 2016, “Carinvest” company submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture a request for entry into the Register of Agricultural Holdings. In order to get his permit, Carević reported his own parcels located near the occupied state land, but so far, no facilities have been built.
The decision was signed by Budimir Mugoša, the then Minister of Agriculture in the so-called “Government of electoral trust”. Over the next four years, Carević regularly reported his farm on occupied state land, and the entire livestock was duly recorded by the Ministry of Agriculture, regardless of the fact that it was a farm complex built without a building permit and on occupied state land.
The footage taken this year by the MANS Investigative Centre shows that today there are a dozen illegal facilities for accommodation of goats, sheep, cattle and pigs in Krimovica, and that preparations for planting a large olive grove on the vast surface of the occupied land have started.
MANS Investigative Centre tried to get answers from Carević and his company to questions about why they occupied the state property and built without a building permit, and in what way they ensured cooperation with state authorities, but to no avail.
Carević previously appeared on TV Vijesti in show “Načisto“ claiming that there was nothing illegal in Krimovica, and that the then law allowed it.
Marko Carević, President of the Municipality of Budva
“These are barns and facilities for agricultural development that are in the development plan of the Ministry of Agriculture… it was done in the process when it was allowed to do so according to the law. Because of this possibility, the Law on Legalization was passed…” Carević claimed last year.
Article 254 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro provides for prison term of up to one year for unlawful occupation of land, while unlawful construction provides for prison term of up to five years.
MANS’ investigators asked the Police Directorate to answer if and when they had communication with Carević or his company and whether they were aware that a criminal offense was ongoing in Krimovica. The response submitted to MANS states that the police did have information about what was happening in Krimovica, but that they did not contact Carević about that.
“So far, Herceg Novi Security Centre – the Unit for Suppression of Economic Crime has had no communication with representatives and/or owners of the Carinvest company regarding activities on this land”, the Police Directorate replied.
From the response of the Police Directorate of Montenegro
While the authorities were passively watching the occupation of the state property, Carević began legalizing his business empire.
In mid-2018, he submitted a request to the Municipality of Kotor for legalization of facilities in Krimovica. In his request, Carevic cites “LEASE” as the basis for the use of the land on which his illegal buildings are located, although he never made such contract but used the occupied land free of charge.
Excerpt from the decision on legalization
Late last year, Marko Carević addressed the Property Administration with a request to buy the disputed plots. The Administration then asked the cadastre to evaluate the value of the land that Carević had occupied.
MANS points out that the occupation of this scale would not have been possible without the active role of state authorities, and that recent activities raised the suspicion that someone is trying to cover up for years-long tolerance of lawlessness:
“From everything we have seen in the documentation, but also in the field, it is undoubtedly a tacit agreement between Carević and several state authorities to suspend the law completely in Krimovica. All the more so because we are talking about the occupation of more than half a million square meters of the state land that has been going on for five years, which Carević could not have organized without logistical and every other support from the very top of the Montenegrin government.
For now, it is known that Carević and his company had undoubtedly direct benefit of this business, as they have been collecting profits from a state for five years, which they neither bought nor rented. If anyone besides Carević made profit out of this business, the answer must be given by the Special State Prosecutor, because we are talking about organized business and politics that resulted in undoubted damage to the public interest”, MANS stated.
Today, the land in Krimovica is registered to the state of Montenegro, and the Ministry of Finance confirmed to MANS investigators that it was only towards the end of 2019 that they took the first steps regarding the occupation of half a million square meters in Krimovica, and that the Chief State Prosecutor was also informed:
“The Directorate for inspection surveillance over the state property, after performing the extraordinary inspection supervision, forwarded the documentation to the competent authority, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro and the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office,” the Ministry of Finance’s PR service replied.
Dejan Milovac
Investigative Centre
MANS
