The first public auction for the sale of the Igalo Hotel, held at the office of public executor Jasminka Bajović, saw no interested buyers for the property. The initial price was set at 18.85 million EUR.
Bajović told RTHN that, according to the law on enforcement, a second public auction will be scheduled, which will be announced in the daily newspaper Vijesti.
“The legal timeframe for the second public auction is no less than 15 and no more than 30 days after the first auction. If there are no buyers then either, a third public auction will follow,” explained the executor.
She clarified that with each successive auction, the starting price will decrease, but she will try to ensure that the property value does not fall too much in order to satisfy all creditors.
“The Acović family is owed around 4.4 million EUR, the Šabović family slightly less than two million, debts for taxes and worker contributions amount to about four million, and the Municipality of Herceg Novi is claiming about two million. After that, smaller creditors follow, but we must also account for interest. We will see the amount the property sells for, and then we will settle the creditors in order. I expect all creditors to be paid,” said Bajović.
She also explained that the buyer would receive the property free of any encumbrances.
“This means that the families who placed encumbrances on the property and whose legal disputes have lasted for decades will be compensated according to the expropriation law,” added Bajović.
She expects that there will be buyers for the Igalo Hotel, as there are not many such properties available at public auctions.
It is important to recall that the first auction for the sale of the Igalo Hotel, based on a final court ruling in favor of the Acović family, was scheduled for March 2023 but was halted after the Commercial Court issued a ruling to prevent any changes in the property status of the bankrupt company Vektra Boka. This ban was imposed following a complaint from the NGO Former Workers of Vektra Boka. Late last year, the Commercial Court of Montenegro decided to lift the ban on the disposal of Vektra Boka’s assets, while it previously rejected a request by the Tax Administration to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Vektra Boka, a decision later confirmed by the Appellate Court, which dismissed the appeal by the NGO Former Workers of Vektra Boka.
