Budva municipality declared Kosovo indictment for return of 4.5 thousand square metres of land

Montenegrin authorities say the Kosovo Ministry of Justice has indicted Montenegro, the Budva municipality and the company “Sunraf beach property d.o.” from Podgorica, demanding the return of property rights to over 4.5 thousand square metres of land in the town of Rafailovic, near Budva.

It's about parcels at the mall along the beach of Bechich, where there once was a resort for children.

Kosovo State Attorney General Sami Istrefi tells Radio Free Europe that Kosovo aims to return property purchased six decades ago.

Facing these circumstances, conforming Montenegro's legislation, we have filed a lawsuit for ownership and security measures for that property, because Kosovo is now and how many years it is not exploiting it, maybe legally it is the property of Kosovo, which is witnessed by cadastral documents there”, says Istrefi.

Istrefi, who is tasked with defending Kosovo's interest when there are disputes inside and abroad, says there is no political problem between states and that this is only a civil procedure.

Kosovo in no form, much less the Ministry of Justice or State Lawyership, has not taken any action against the state of Montenegro for any government procedure or action that could have the effects of both states. This is quite the opposite of that, because this is a civil procedure”, Istrefi says.

Plamenac: We've asked the indictment to be dismissed.

Secretary of the Secretariat for Protection of Property in the Budva municipality Nikola Plamenac tells Radio Free Europe that through the indictment, it is required to determine that Kosovo is owner of that property.

Testing “, they have proposed a trade agreement from the 1960s to Kotor, with which the [owner] was bought by the Council for Social, Political and Communist Affairs of the former Kosovo Autonomous and Metohija”, says Plamenac.

At the Constitutional Court in Kotor, they say the Republic of Kosovo indictment, made by the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Attorney General, was established at the Constitutional Court in Kotor in early November 2020, while the parties were sent to the first meeting with the mediator in late April.

On June 4th, the Centre for Alternative Resolution of Disagreements has returned the file of the subject to court, as mediation has failed. In the coming period, the court will continue to act in accordance with law”, tribunal spokesman Spiro Pavicevic has said.

The Budva municipality says the judicial process is in the initial phase.

“Rasti is at the beginning. It is that time when the indictment arises, then the indicted parties respond to the indictment, and the court decides whether to enter the decision-making procedure. We wanted the lawsuit to be dropped first. If it comes to this, then almost nothing happened. If you continue, then court procedure, hearing sessions, expertise and whatnot, says Plamenac.

According to AKP data, properties of the metallural plant “Trepca” are also found on Serbia's territory.

The former children's resort to the controversial parcel was earlier named “The Sorbeshi”, while later “Lahor” ʹ under the same name company, whose headquarters, after 1999, has moved from Pristina to Montenegro.

Later, the company has been privatised and sold, while the holiday building has collapsed.

Now, a multistory building is being built in this country, while its owner is firm “Sunraf beach propperties d.o.”, which real estate acquired in 2017, says of Radio Free Europe firm's lawyer, Milan Vujosevich.

The real estate has been bought for a public offering, during the process of selling assets to Nigvel Investu in bankruptcy, and the offer of CHASunraf beach prosperity has been assessed as more acceptable, in line with bankruptcy Law provisions”, Vujosevq says.

According to him, the buyer's company has entrusted official state data and legally bought real estate, with state consent, respectively.

Therefore, it is clear that in this judicial process, éunraf beach properties) there can be no consequences when it comes to ownership acquired”, Vujosevic believes.

As an indictee, the Budva municipality has asked the tribunal to dismiss Kosovo's indictment as unfair, because, according to Plamenac, the related evidence cannot lead to a conspiracy, concerning the prosecution's legality in terms of disputed parcels.

“In their indictment, they have referred to UN Resolution 1244 and we have been summoned to that resolution, to UNMIK and to the Order for the competencies of the interim administration in Kosovo in June 1999. In our opinion, these regulations cannot be implemented in Montenegro's territory, especially in circumstances where the subject concerns certain embezzlements or law enforcement in real estate. In these cases, the issue is governed by the law of the country where it stands”, Plamenac says.

The Kosovo indictment has also been rejected by Montenegro's state representative dealing with the protection of property rights, Bojana Qirovic.

She feels that neither the procedures that are under way nor the evidence that will be subject to the court's free assessment should be commented on.

AKP says Kosovo has 35 properties in Montenegro

At the Kosovar Privatisation Agency, Free Europe Radio says “Sunraf beach property“is not the social asset with which the Kosovo Privatisation Agency manages.

“The AKP has in its evidence 163 social properties belonging to various social companies across states emerging from the former Yugoslavia. Of the 163 social properties abroad, most are local and the” office, it says in response.

According to the AKP, 35 properties are located in Montenegro, until 99 are in Serbia.

It says that “except for the Republic of Serbia, the state in which the AKP is prevented from having legal access to administrative documentation and other legal procedures in other states, The AKP consistently conducts administrative and judicial procedures on behalf of social companies, for legal possession of these” properties.

Hasani: Kosovo cannot seek property in Montenegro

International law professor and former Constitutional Court Chairman Enver Hasani says Kosovo cannot seek property in Montenegro because there is no legal basis for this.

“I cannot believe that someone in Kosovo can advise our Ministry of Justice to start something like this”, Hasani tells Radio Free Europe.

There is no basis for such a thing, because this is not a private-juridic relationship. The Kosovo government, nor the state of Kosovo, which has been declared on February 17th, 2008, are not private descendants of the so-called SAP Kosova [Kosovo Autonome Socialist Khrahina and Metohija]. To be even more honest, what has happened is shame, because Kosovo has normal lawyers who know the most fundamental legal matters”, Hasani says.

According to him, the question of the former Yugoslavia's heritage ended in 2001 with the Vienna Agreement, when Serbia inherited property in the name of Kosovo and Vojvodina.

When Montenegro declared independence in 2006, the real estate that belonged to the former Yugoslavia and was located in Montenegro, with the 2001 Vienna Agreement, belongs to Montenegro. There is nothing disputed from the standpoint of international law”, Hasani says.