Velika Plaza beach in Ulcinj. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/krysi@.
Parliament in Montenegro late Tuesday backed agreements with the United Arab Emirates on cooperation on the economy, tourism and real estate – paving the way also for the controversial development of the untouched 12-kilometre-long Velika Plaza beach in Ulcinj.
The agreements, signed earlier by Prime Minister Milojko Spajic in Dubai earlier this month, are part of broader efforts to attract foreign investment and develop tourism, especially in the underdeveloped south of the country.
“Montenegro needs investments from credible companies that have had decades of successful large-scale projects,” Spajic said after signing the agreement with the UAE’s Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Cooperation in tourism, Spajic added, “will rapidly accelerate economic growth, create new jobs and improve the standard and quality of life, evenly distributing the benefits in the south and north of the country”.
Spajic previously announced that the Dubai-based Eagle Hills real estate company was ready to invest 35 billion euros to lease Velika Plaza, although the company later downplayed that figure.
Spajic later explained that the figure referred to the total value of the wider agreement, including deals on textiles, security technology, telecommunications, aviation, infrastructure development, real estate and other services.
“This is an opus that has a potential of 35 billion [euros]. This is a conservative figure, it could be higher, it depends on us,” he told the parliament session.
However, parties representing ethnic Albanians, who make up 75 per cent of the population of Ulcinj, strongly oppose plans to lease what they call the “jewel” of their seaside riviera for 90 years.
“That is absolutely unacceptable. We are not against investments … but Ulcinj is not for sale,” said Mehmed Zenka, from the Democratic Union of Albanians party.
“We explained to the Prime Minister that … there are other locations for investments but not 20 million square meters of beach and the hinterland of Velika Plaza,” Zenka added.
Vanja Calovic, a long-time anti-corruption activist, said the government had united Montenegro against it.
“Citizens will fight. They have united the whole of Montenegro, all faiths, all nations, all political affiliations – they are all for our pearls to remain with us, citizens of Montenegro – and not for us to be their waiters, cooks and maids,” she told a protest rally in front of parliament on Tuesday, before the vote.
She called on members of the ruling majority “to remember that they once had a spine.
“We elected you to work in our interests, not yours, and the interest of any investor. If you choose your pockets today instead of the citizens, be sure that we will not stop. We defended [the river] Tara and we will defend our sea as well,” Calovic said.
Ivan Vuković, an MP from the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, told the debate in parliament that what the ruling majority proposed was state robbery.
“This is an attempt at armed robbery of state property. The government, with the help of the parliamentary majority, is planning to give away land worth 20 billion euros,” Vuković said.
But government representatives insisted the agreement was a “historic opportunity” for long-term economic growth.
“This partnership has the potential to transform the Ulcinj region while respecting its ecological and cultural values,” the Ministry of Economic Development stated.
Local environmental organisations have called for full disclosure of the contract and for wider public consultation.
“Velika Plaza is a national treasure and decisions about its future must involve citizens and local communities,” said the Green Action Network, a regional environmental NGO.
The influential think-tank MANS cautioned that the agreement on cooperation was being proposed “without the need to conduct public procurement, public tenders or other procedures prescribed by national legislation governing the area of state property.
“State land will be sold or leased through direct agreements behind closed doors, which opens up huge space for corruption,” a MANS press release pointed out.
Eagle Hills owner Mohamed Alabbar told Montenegro’s TV Vijesti that the development of Velika Plaza would be sensitive.
“There would be a lot of greenery, buildings with apartments no higher than three of four floors. Beaches would remain accessible to all citizens, but they would be clean. The local community would also be involved,” he said.
Velika Plaza stretches for more than 12 kilometres and has long been considered a key asset for sustainable tourism. It remains mostly untouched.
Eagle Hills, a Dubai-based real estate investment company, built the world-famous Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai and the Belgrade Waterfront project in Serbia, among other developments.
