This case study examines the plan of the Government of Montenegro to valorize the fortress Mamula, a valuable historic monument, through a long-term lease to Egyptian investor Samih Sawiris. However, the long-term lease agreement, concluded in early 2015, is detrimental to the public interest, and it is not only that it denies Montenegrin citizens access to the island Lastavica, but also enables the investor to pledge rights from the agreement in order to get a loan for the investment or to grant a third party the right to sublease the property.
Moreover, the agreed fee for the lease on the basis of tourist valorization is extremely low, and what is particularly problematic is that the government has already concluded an agreement with the investor, signing a long-term lease for another location on the Montenegrin coast, i.e. part of the Lustica peninsula, thus violating the obligations from the contractual arrangement. Instead of questioning the fulfillment of the obligations under the agreement concerning the realization of the investment in Lustica, the government decided to go into a new business venture with the Egyptian millionaire.
II: DESCRIPTION OF THE LOCATION: The fortress Mamula was erected on the rocky island Lastavica, which has a circular shape and a diameter of about 200 meters, located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and is about 3.5 nautical miles away from Herceg Novi. The island is state-owned and registered in the cadastral municipality Radovanici, as a cadastral parcel 3438, covering the area of 31,848 square meters, and is registered in the real estate folio number 215.
The fortress Mamula is one of the most carefully preserved Austro-Hungarian buildings at the Adriatic coast, and according to Montenegrin regulations, it is protected as a cultural monument of the second category.[2] The building was designed for military operations but never served its primary purpose – not a single cannon shot was fired from its walls, but it was used as a prison due to its isolated position.
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