The two-decades-old idea about constructing a cable car that would connect Becici and Kosmac fortress could soon be realized. Namely, Budva's new city administration does not give up on being a partner with the private company "Cable Car Montenegro" in the construction of a cableway from Becici Cucuci, not far from Hotel "Falkensteiner", to the Austro-Hungarian fortress Kosmac on Brajici.
At yesterday's meeting, the councilors had to come up with a proposal to establish a public interest that would envisage the expropriation of nearly 35,000 square meters of land on a 2.1-kilometer-long road, where this tourist attraction should pass. This is the seventh decision in the last decade since the idea of the cable car was promised, but only now, after resolving the misunderstandings about the property and legal relations with the owners of the parcels on the track of the future lifts, the decision has been made. However, due to the turmoil within the ruling coalition, a session of the local parliament that needed the green light for this project was postponed until further notice.
The purpose of expropriation was the construction of a cable car on the route Becici - Brajici. The municipality will completely expropriate 16,780 square meters to erect pillars on the site, while 27,393 square meters will be completely expropriated for the official passage and use.
The municipality will be the expropriation user, but all costs will be offset by the company "Cable Car Montenegro", which had deposited money four years ago.
The story of the ski lifts started in 2008 when the company “Cable Car Montenegro” was founded. Investors then proposed that the municipality enter the project.
In the Central Register of Business Entities, 56 percent of the founding capital is owned by a tourist worker Branko Diki Kažanegra, 27 percent by Nikola Koprivica, and Ivan Tomic 17 percent. On March 16th, 2008, the Municipal Assembly adopted a decision on the role of the Municipality in establishing a company “Cable Car”. In December of that same year, the local parliament adopted amendments to that decision, which approved the entrance of the Municipality as the founder of “Cable Car Montenegro”. As a founding stake, the Municipality entered its immovable property. "Cable Car Montenegro" paid a deposit of 483,680 euros to the special account of the Ministry of Finance in the middle of November 2015 for expropriation purposes for the construction of the cable car.
Then the entire project was promoted, but due to unresolved property issues, there was no construction. It has been stated on several occasions that the project is worth EUR 12 million and that the investor or the company will provide the money for construction and expropriation. The runway of the future lifts would be 2.1 km long, the starting station in Becici, not far from the hotel complex "Falkensteiner", where it is planned to build a large parking lot and a couple of smaller facilities such as a ticket office and a big public toilette.
From here, the ski lift will climb up some 840 meters above sea level, not far from the Austro-Hungarian fortress Kosmac, where it is foreseen to build a complex that would include small ground buildings made of autochthonous materials, mostly stone. The complex would consist of a large restaurant, a couple of souvenir shops, as well as a large amphitheater in the open air, and large green areas for the visitors to have a rest.
In a car with a maximum of eight people, tourists would travel from Becici to Brajici in only six to seven minutes. This could take up to 1,350 to 1,540 passengers for about an hour.
President of the local parliament and Democratic leader Krsto Radovic submitted an amendment to the decision on determining the public interest by which they sought to enforce the expropriation and the protective band along the route.
It is required that the Investment Secretariat will order the execution of an Elaborate to determine the protective band that will also be subject to expropriation.
"After consulting with the citizens and looking at the situation on the field, it has been established that the land through which the pipelines, necessary for the operation of the lifts and the land nearby, cannot serve their purpose, and that it also remains in the property of the current owner of property rights which are obliged to pay the fee for the same," says the explanatory statement of the amendment.
Text by Vuk Lajovic, on June 4th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
