Residents of Brezna Call on Minister Radunović to Withdraw the Plužine Spatial Plan: “Plan Negotiated with Investors, Not with Residents”
Residents of the Piva village of Brezna, united under the Citizens’ Initiative “Save Brezna”, have submitted a formal request to the Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, Slaven Radunović, demanding the suspension and revision of the procedure for adopting the amendments to the Spatial-Urban Plan (PUP) of the Municipality of Plužine. They cite numerous legal irregularities, violations of prescribed procedures, and the complete disregard of the local community most directly affected by the planning solutions – the residents of Brezna, the Initiative announced.
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They add that the Review Council issued a negative opinion on the Public Hearing Report, acknowledging the numerous objections submitted to this planning document by the residents of Brezna, as well as by the NGO Action for Social Justice.
The request was submitted due to what the Initiative described as serious violations of the law, denial of the public’s right to participate, and indications of unlawful influence by investors on the planning process.
“On behalf of the local community of Gornja Brezna, as the party directly affected by the preparation and adoption of the Amendments to the PUP of the Municipality of Plužine, we hereby submit a formal request for the immediate suspension of further adoption of these amendments, due to:
grave violations of the legally prescribed public consultation procedure;
denial of the public’s right to participate;
violations of Montenegro’s international obligations, as well as indications of possible unlawful influence by the energy investor – the Montenegrin Electricity Transmission System (CGES) and others – on the Ministry’s actions, which may indicate conduct contrary to the principles of legality, impartiality, and integrity of public administration,” the request states.
In its letter to Minister Slaven Radunović, the Initiative notes that the Ministry rejected their request — submitted seven times — to organise a central public hearing for the affected community, justifying this by stating that, quote:
“CGES had previously informed the residents of Gornja Brezna in detail about the planned energy project.”
According to Brezna residents, the Ministry is unlawfully treating an investor’s information session as a substitute for a legally mandatory public consultation, effectively delegating public authority to a private entity – which constitutes a violation of administrative integrity and the principle of impartiality of public bodies.
“Such reasoning is incompatible with the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction, which clearly prescribes the obligation of the competent authority – not the investor – to conduct public consultations. At the same time, the Ministry’s reference to an alleged ‘informative meeting’ organised by the investor (CGES) cannot replace a formal, transparent, open, and inclusive public participation process, as prescribed by the Aarhus Convention (Articles 6 and 7), EU Directives on public participation in decision-making, EBRD’s Performance Requirement 10 (2024), and the Law on Public Administration – the principles of legality and impartiality,” Save Brezna stresses.
The residents of the Piva village of Brezna have spent the past six months fighting to prevent the construction of a 400 kV high-voltage substation and an international energy hub in the centre of their village – a community that has been rapidly developing rural tourism and is the only growing settlement in Piva, attracting new residents. Despite the reality on the ground, CGES and its consultant ENOVA, the villagers claim, submitted project documentation to the EBRD – based on which loan funds for the project were approved – falsely stating that there were no residential or commercial buildings within a 2-km radius of the planned substation site, although there are 150.
Residents are also fighting against the company Alcazar Energy, which plans to route a transmission line across their private properties for its Bijela Wind Farm project in the municipality of Šavnik. So far, Save Brezna claims, the company has engaged in a series of unlawful actions, including the illegal deployment of private surveyors onto residents’ land without their knowledge or consent.
“The intention to destroy the entire village of Brezna – which is inevitable if an international energy hub is established here – involves numerous actors: state and private energy companies, a powerful energy lobby linked with individuals within Montenegrin institutions, all for private profit. If our state fails to protect our basic human right to life, then we expect the European Union and its institutions, which invite us into membership, to do so. A state that enables the destruction of an entire village and prepares a silent genocide of an entire local community does not belong in the EU,” Save Brezna concludes.
