Eyewitnesses say Gurman, a food-service business in Podgorica’s Block 5, resumed preparing and selling food after the Tourism Inspectorate prohibited restaurant activity and sealed catering equipment on 4 November. The allegations, based on emails, videos and photographs sent by the witnesses, have not been independently confirmed, and the material does not establish whether seals were removed or what equipment was used.
The witnesses allege that after inspectors left that evening, official seals were removed, food was brought back into the premises, and the business then resumed food preparation and sales. They asked the Tourism Inspectorate, police and prosecution to check whether food preparation and service continued, whether sealed equipment was used and whether the seals remained intact.
The inspection resulted in a partial closure and a ban on catering, but the entrance was not sealed. Tourism inspector Ivana Mašković explained that equipment was sealed to prevent further restaurant activity, while the entrance remained open because operator RIVA R had meanwhile re-registered for retail trade. A photograph supplied by the witnesses shows a notice prohibiting catering activity on a tourism inspector’s order.
The Capital City’s Secretariat for Entrepreneurship and Investments revoked RIVA R’s restaurant permit on 12 August, and the Chief Administrator rejected the company’s appeal on 1 October. The decision said the lease expired on 27 May and that no new proof of the right to use the premises had been submitted to the competent authority.
Inspectors had attempted to close the premises on 26 October in an operation lasting several hours, with police present. An allegation that the premises’ user tore up inspection records and obstructed the placement of seals was not officially confirmed.
A court dispute is under way between the premises’ user and Euro Petrol, which owns the space, over continued use after the lease expired. Gurman’s owner previously said the dispute should be resolved through institutions and that documentation and arguments had been submitted to the relevant authorities.
The eyewitnesses said institutional action should show that “the same rules apply to all business entities”. Responses from RIVA R and the Tourism Inspectorate to the allegations that catering resumed after the ban were expected.
