Several government departments have become involved in addressing the issue of electricity supply interruptions at the state-owned ski resort and private hotel within the Kolašin 1600 Mountain Center.
According to the owners of the land at Kolašin 1450, where power cables were damaged during preparatory construction works, officials from various ministries have reached out to discuss a resolution.
Due to the breakage of several cables, the ski resort, private hotel, and connections to the Klisura tunnel and the Radio Diffusion Center have been without electricity for over a week.
“A meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, and we hope to reach an agreement. We’ve also provided comprehensive documentation. It was never our intention to obstruct the operations of tourist facilities, and we hope to find a solution if there’s mutual understanding,” said one of the landowners in a statement to Vijesti.
Earlier, Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System (CEDIS) reported that construction machinery had cut three 10kV cables and one 35kV cable, which are not owned by them but are connected to the Jezarine transformer station, which powers the Kolašin 1600 ski resort. They also stated that the landowner has not allowed access to facilitate repairs.
According to unofficial information, some of the cables cut on the private parcel belong to the Directorate for Capital Projects, while the owner of others is still formally listed as the contractor working on the Klisura tunnel.
One of the co-owners of the land where the cables were damaged, Srđa Anđelić, said earlier that the cables were cut during preparatory construction work. He added that the landowners were unaware of the cables’ location, how many there were, or who owned them.
“We were shocked and surprised by the number of cables buried on our land. No one knows whose installations they are, nor is there any documentation. We only found out today, when an inspector arrived, that it was the Public Works Administration that installed the cables illegally, without our permission. We never received a map of where they were laid, nor was the land marked, and no consent was requested from us. We were caught off guard and confused. There’s no project for the power lines, and property rights haven’t been settled,” said Anđelić.
He also stated that CEDIS is not the owner of the cables, and he doesn’t understand why they’ve been requesting access to the parcel.
CEDIS claims that the power outage is located from the last pole, number 32, to the entrance of the transformer station.
“During field inspections and by locating the fault, the team found that construction work had been done with machinery, and it is likely that the cables along this route were cut by a third party. What is important to note is that the third party is preventing access to CEDIS teams in order to precisely locate the fault and resolve the issues,” said CEDIS in a statement.
In addition to the inability to access the damaged cables due to construction works, CEDIS vehicles are also unable to reach the Jezarine transformer station.
“Our teams are ready to resolve the network issues once access is allowed,” stated CEDIS.
The Jezarine transformer station is supplied by the Rijeka Mušovića Hydroelectric Power Plant via two 35kV lines.
The state-owned ski resort has faced similar power supply issues in the past, with a month and a half-long outage at the end of 2020 due to similar circumstances. At that time, power cables were relocated from land owned by the neighboring Kolašin 1450 ski resort of Zoran Bećirović.
The cable relocation occurred during preparatory works for the construction of the Hotel D, also owned by Bećirović.
The cable route was found to be on land where the hotel’s foundation was to be built, prompting the relevant inspectorate to order a power cut due to the danger posed by exposed cables. The cables were then buried on another private parcel, but reports suggest that expropriation was never carried out.
