Contract signed for sale of land in the Luštica peninsula in Montenegro - Egyptian "Orascom" invests 1.1 billion EUR in hotel-tourist complex

Company "Luštica development", which owns 6.5m square meters in the Luštica peninsula in Montenegro, was sold to Egyptian company "Orascom" on October 23rd.

The contract on sale of 90% of stocks of "Luštica development" was signed in villa Gorica by the President of the Egyptian company, Samih Saviris, and the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović.

The Mayor of Tivat, Miodrag Kankaraš, and Mr. Saviris then signed the contract for rental of land on period of 99 years and 1.1 billion EUR worth of investment in construction of the hotel-tourist complex within the next 12 years.

The Minister of Tourism of Serbia, Predrag Nenezić, said that the plan was that the first phase of construction be finished in four years and that 150m EUR be invested in it, while the whole project should be completed in 12 years.

- We agreed that 60% of the projected capacities should be hotel capacities, so that eight hotels with 3,300 rooms, 700 villas and 600 suites will be built - said Nenezić and added that the construction of golf course, marina, bars, restaurants, mini clinic and school was also in the pipeline.

He added that "Orascom" had paid 10m EUR, and that 10,000 people would be employed in the whole complex, 9,000 of whom in hotels.

Đukanović said that that project, along with the contracted construction of highway, would bring 4 billion EUR worth of investments to Montenegro, which was great stimulus for Montenegro to overcome the crisis.

- I want to congratulate Saviris for not giving up because of the risks associated with the crisis and on successful completion of the negotiations, which created conditions for physical realization of the project. I hope that "Orascom" will soon start realization of the first phase and finish the whole project on time - said Đukanović.

Đukanović said that that contract represented significant step towards the establishment of Montenegro as elite tourist destination, along with the reconstruction of city hotel Sveti Stefan, which should be completed prior to the beginning of the next season, projects in Porto Montenegro (a port in Montenegro) and completion of regional water supply system prior to February 2010.

Kankaraš announced that the Spatial Plan for Tivat would be adopted in local parliament prior to mid-December, so that the infrastructure works on future tourist complex can start immediately after that.

- The study of the location that will enable "Orascom" to start realization of the first phase of the complex will be finished prior to mid-2010 - said the Mayor of Tivat.

Mr. Saviris said that "Orascom" would start construction as soon as it got the license, and he pointed out that that company was building complexes that looked like small towns.

- In our opinion, the success of projects depends on the number of local people who live in our small towns because our aim is to have locals instead of seasonal workers in that complexes - said Mr. Saviris.

He said that his company had built 20m square meters of tourist complexes, which had attracted 25,000 citizens, and he expressed the expectation that 6,000 people would reside in the Luštica peninsula on permanent basis.