Podgorica, March 26th, 2025 – The Agreement with the Government of the United Arab Emirates, which Prime Minister Milojko Spajić plans to sign at the end of the week, suspends a number of Montenegrin laws and widely opens the doors to money laundering.
The Agreement on ooperation in the field of tourism and real estate development stipulates that the land for selected projects will be provided “without the need to conduct public procurement, public tender, or other procedures prescribed by national legislation governing state property.” This means that state land will be sold or leased through direct agreements behind closed doors, which opens up huge potential for corruption.
The document was adopted on Monday evening at an electronic session of the Government, and is still not available to the public. Previously, an Agreement between the Government of Montenegro and the Government of the United Arab Emirates on economic cooperation was adopted, which contains general provisions on cooperation and has been published on the Government’s website.
However, another Agreement, accessed by MANS, contains very controversial articles.
By this document, the Government commits to adapting Montenegrin legislation to the needs of selected projects, i.e., the interests of their investors.
In addition to tourist facilities, projects may include the construction of “mixed-use properties,” i.e., apartments for the market. This is also confirmed by a provision of the Agreement that enables financing of projects by selling real estate on the market before they are built.
The Agreement also provides for the possibility of “third party” investment in selected projects, without specifying who these parties may be and without clear criteria for selecting investors, which can open the door to uncontrolled entry of dubious capital into the country.
It is particularly important to emphasize that this agreement does not only relate to the “Velika Plaža” project, but opens the doors to all investors proposed by the UAE Government.
In fact, it stipulates that the Government of the Emirates determines the companies whose projects will be subject to the Agreement, and that the Montenegrin Government gives written consent to this.
However, the Agreement does not specify under what conditions the Montenegrin Government gives consent, and when it can be denied, especially in relation to determining the actual owners of companies and the origin of the capital.
The Agreement is contradictory when it comes to guarantees for investors. In one part, it is stipulated that the UAE Government guarantees for investors, while in another it expressly excludes the Emirates’ responsibility in case the selected investors fail to fulfill their obligations or are involved in controversial or illegal activities.
This is particularly significant given that the UAE very rarely cooperates with international institutions and other countries when it comes to preventing money laundering, and there are grounds for suspicion that a significant portion of illegally acquired money from Montenegro has indeed been taken to the Emirates.
Because of all this, there is a real danger that this agreement will enable the return and laundering of money obtained through criminal activities in Montenegro.
MANS
