Montenegro urges timely launch of Kotor-Lovcen gondola

In December 2021, Montenegro hired the consortium to build the gondola lift and manage it over a 30-year period. As part of the agreement, the state pledged to build the public infrastructure, including the needed electrical facilities, and to enable the concessionaire to switch to the power grid by April 15, 2023 at the latest, the government said in a statement on Thursday after its cabinet meeting.

Yet, the state was not able to meet the deadline. As a result, the concessionaire signed another contract in April 2023 agreeing to build most of the infrastructure, with an obligation that this infrastructure will be bought back by the state once it becomes operational, according to the statement.

Therefore, the concessionaire has built the TS 35/10 kV Kuk power station and the adjacent 35/10 kV power line, and secured the needed permits thus meeting in full its contractual obligation.

Yet, in order for the contract to be completed in full and the infrastructure to be bought back by the state, the government's administration for capital projects needs now to fulfill its obligations.

"The above stated puts the concessionaire in a situation of being unable to launch the Kotor-Lovcen gondola lift for commercial use as planned in April 2024, and also brings them into an unenviable position caused by the very big investment in infrastructure and the payment of additional financial costs," the government concluded.

In 2021, the total value of the project was estimated at 20 million euro ($21.8million).

($ = 0.917 euro)