Several thousands of foreigners, mainly Russians and Serbs, who are owners of illegally constructed buildings in Montenegro, will face serious problems as they didn’t submit requests for legalization by set deadline (16 July). This means they might lose their properties as the municipalities are to create mortgages as a guarantee that they will pay their utility bills.
Some owners of the illegally constructed buildings have already contacted CdM, claiming that they hadn’t been informed on the legalization process in Montenegro. However, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, MORiT, told CdM neither they themselves nor the municipalities were obliged to send separate notifications to owners of such assets in Montenegro.
“Foreign citizens, owning buildings in MNE, shall take care of their own homes, flats, business premises and therefore inform themselves on Montenegrin regulations,” the MORiT told CdM.
The Ministry also said they created an intense media campaign, often communicating with media companies from Serbia, as well as with Russian media in Montenegro. “We cooperated with diplomatic missions of countries whose citizens own real estate in Montenegro and we provided clear instructions for legalization process. Also, we were responding to all messages received via e-mail/phone so that they have enough time to organize themselves,” the MORiT emphasized.
Several days ago, Serbian media announced that 20,000 of their nationals who own houses in Montenegro will be left with nothing as they didn’t submit requests for legalization, but the MORiT simply explained all of them were enabled to send requests by using postal service. Simple as that.
