Montenegrin MPs should adopt the agreements on Tuesday Montenegro i United Arab Emirates (UAE) on economic cooperation, tourism and real estate development.
It is expected that the parliamentary majority will support the agreements recently signed in Dubai by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, which open the door for Arab billionaire Mohamed Alabar to invest in Montenegro, specifically in Velika Plaja near Ulcinj, after Serbia, Albania and Croatia. writes DW.
Violent reactions at local and national levels
Ahead of the vote on the draft law on the ratification of the agreement between Montenegro and the UAE, the opposition, the authorities in Ulcinj, ecologists and part of the civil sector are protesting.
The Montenegrin Agency for the Protection of Competition announced that it will investigate whether the rules of state aid are being violated in this case, and the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption noted that it is particularly controversial that the Government, by agreement, undertakes to provide land to the investor without applying public procurement, tenders or procedures prescribed by national legislation governing the area of state property.
The opposition party URA submitted a criminal complaint to the Special Prosecutor's Office against Prime Minister Spajić for signing a document which, as they announced, was nothing more than an agreement on the sale of Montenegro.
By the way, the government adopted the agreements on cooperation with the UAE in an electronic session that lasted 33 minutes, warned the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS), and the director of that NGO, Vanja Ćalović-Marković, called on the government to first put them up for public debate, so that the agreements could be improved - in the interest of all citizens of Montenegro.
Agreements with the UAE – in the interest of individuals and against the EU?
Aleksandar Dragićević, one of the civil activists who oppose Alabar's "vision" of the megaproject on Velika Plaža, told DW that the deputies who are supposed to adopt the agreements on Tuesday do not know what the projects are about. As he says, they trust the investor that everything will be in accordance with the laws, even though he has a negative reputation in Serbia and Albania - due to delays, corruption and non-transparency.
"Montenegro's European path is threatened because investors from the UAE are given a preferential position compared to those coming from EU countries. And according to the terms of the agreement, there is no serious investor who would not invest if the best parts of Montenegro were given to him for 90 years, to build tourist facilities and apartments for the market on them, to bring and pay for all the accompanying infrastructure, to allow him to edit planning documents, and to speed up procedures by suspending laws. The Prime Minister did not inform before signing the agreement MPs, the Government or the local community, but he implements the whole process the way he wants," adds Dragićević.
Prime Minister Spajić, on the other hand, presented the agreements with the UAE to the deputies at the parliamentary committees as "generators of economic growth". "Deputies will not vote on an agreement with an investor or on a specific project, but on an international agreement on economic cooperation between two states," Spajić said.
Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandić from the New Serbian Democracy emphasized that these agreements are "an opportunity for the revival of Montenegro", although he is aware of the revolt of the local community.
Dragićević, however, expects that the agreements will get the green light in the Parliament. As he says, not because the Prime Minister and the Government dispelled numerous doubts that citizens and MPs have, but because the majority do not vote according to conscience, logic and for the welfare of Montenegro, but according to the instructions of their party leaders.
"In order not to provoke the anger of the prime minister, who would replace the ministers from their parties, the majority MPs keep doubts about the announced investments to themselves and will raise their hand. For the civil sector and the local community, the agreements are just the beginning of the fight. At every step, the government will have strong resistance - protests, objections and the use of procedures and laws - and all in order to preserve space and Montenegro," Dragićević tells DW.
How did Alabar enter the story?
After the World Summit of Governments, which was held in Dubai at the beginning of February this year and was attended by the Montenegrin delegation led by Spajić, Alabar entered Montenegro through the back door. In record time, he founds a company and participates in a tender for the lease of several swimming pools on the Velika beach in Ulcinj.
It was immediately clear that the builder of Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, Belgrade on the water and an exclusive complex in Durres, Albania - whose wealth is estimated at 2,3 billion euros - has much bigger ambitions in Montenegro as well.
After the sudden meeting between Alabar and the President of the Municipality of Ulcinj, Genci Nimanbegu, the public forgets about the beaches and learns that a megaproject is "simmering" in Ulcinj, which causes a revolt of Ulcinj residents.
"Twenty million square meters of Ulcinj's Velika plaža is planned to be leased for 99 years. I don't know how anyone thought of doing it without public discussion, involvement of the local self-government and the professional public..." said the president of the Municipality of Ulcinj, who was supported by the local parliament, as well as a large number of citizens.
They also organized protests from which they announced that Spajić intended to cede valuable state land to Alabara for use, on which he would build - without a tender or public discussion - bypassing valid spatial plans, the state's development strategy, as well as the principles of preserving the environment and biodiversity of that unique, largely untouched area.
The president of the Montenegrin government, however, presents the Arab billionaire as a credible investor who will invest an incredible 35 billion euros. However, as explained by the investor himself, that sum reflects the "wider economic impact of the project".
In an interview with Vijesti Television, Alabar admitted that he does not yet have a developed plan, but he presented his vision - how he envisions his project on the Big Beach and what exactly he would build and how much:
"That would be a continuation of the beautiful architecture that you have. There would be a lot of greenery, apartment buildings no higher than three or four floors, the beaches would remain accessible to all citizens, but they would be clean. The local community would also be involved, so that people who sell chicken in Ulcinj would sell more chicken in restaurants. People who sell shampoo would sell more shampoo in hotels," said Alabar and promised to respect all Montenegrin and European laws.
The big beach (isn't) a big lie
The NGO coalition "Big Beach or Big Lie" protested in front of the Assembly regarding the Government's intention to include in the agenda the laws on the confirmation of the agreement with the United Arab Emirates through an urgent procedure.
Jovana Janjušević from the Center for the Protection and Study of Birds (CZIP) said that the MPs are not deciding on Velika Plaža, but on the sovereignty of Montenegro, and that ecologists fear that - if investors give up on Velika Plaža - Buljarica, Durmitor or Biogradska Gora will be "attacked".
"Protected areas mean nothing to Prime Minister Spajić, and that's what's problematic," said the CZIP representative.
