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Services and support:
• Land acquisition
Purchasing land in Montenegro at the best of times is without question a complicated process. Many foreigners have purchased land tracks in zones which they will find it close to impossible to achieve planning permission on.
UEP Montenegro specializes in identifying land opportunities with correct zoning and/or the possibility of rezoning with clean legal title. Our professional team guarantees delivery of clean title on all land deals that UEP offers to our client base.
• Legal diligence
Prior to entering in to any land deal with UEP, full legal diligence is delivered on the site in question prior to signing. Our legal team consists of the best and most experienced commercial lawyers within the country of Montenegro. As part of the diligence the sites will come with full zoning or confirmation that the land will be rezoned, subject to the particular project. Rezoning land in Montenegro realistically takes up to 9 months with a compliment of planning consultants, architects and engineers being involved in the process.
• Financial support
UEP has built up an excellent working relationship with the major banking institutions within Montenegro that are subsidiaries of major European banks. The average interest rate applied to project financing is circa 6.95 % fixed over 5 years. UEP can deliver to its client’s project financing in the range of 70 to 75 % of total project value depending on the developmental history of the client. It is also possible, at the time of achieving project financing, to incorporate the land cost reducing the required paid up equity by the developer.
• Project design
Within each Municipality of Montenegro it is essential to deal directly with the senior urbanists and planers with a professional architectural and engineering team representing the project. UEP offers to its clients a full in house architectural and engineering design team employed full time by UEP. In certain zones of Montenegro the coastline is protected by state institutions whereas their recommendations and advice on design can not be bypassed. It is essential that the professional team representing the project have an excellent working relationship with the Municipality.
• Achieving planning permission
From the time of land acquisition a client must be prepared to allow a minimum of 9 months on zoned land to achieve full planning permission with building permits. The planning procedure in Montenegro is probably one of the most difficult in Europe with an average planning application consisting of up to 1500 pages of detailed information. There are 26 steps to achieving planning permission. UEP and its planning team bring each project from inception to delivery of full building permits in the quickest time achievable under Montenegrin planning law.
• Project certification
In each Municipality in Montenegro once all the paperwork has been completed and submitted to the relevant government bodies in accordance with the planning laws of Montenegro, within the specific timeframe, the project will receive building permits. Each Municipality has different costs for the permits depending on the zone in which the project is being built. On average a development should budget for circa 200 euros per squared meter of build. This includes supply of water, sewage and electricity to the site. On completion of build the project must be signed off by a number of divisions under the control of the Ministry for Economics, Planning and Tourism. It is essential that the project management team speak the native tong of Serbian to execute this process. UEP provides its clients this full service.
• Build project management
UEP provides for each project the following project managers:
- Technical planning consultant and over viewer
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Civil engineering
- Mechanical engineering
- Electrical engineering
- Technical architectural consultant
- Technical architectural interior and exterior director
- Senior project management over view
• Operational management
UEP can provide a full after build operational management team branded or independent. UEP will start to implement this team six months in advance of completion of build. The teams we engage are highly qualified in their field with the proven history in each sector for which we engage them. Each project must have its own in house accountant responsible for monthly returns under Montenegrin tax law and all senior staff must go through a 4 months training process prior to working on site. Management reports are generated on a quarterly basis and audited yearly by internationally recognized auditors.
• Tax advice
Currently in Montenegro the government has made the decision by 2010 to have a flat rate of 9% taxes on all issues. In no uncertain terms Montenegro is heading towards becoming a tax haven within southern Europe. Within the UEP team we offer our clients a comprehensive tax overview and advice for tax efficiency. Corporate tax is only 9% in Montenegro with personal income tax now at a flat 15% dropping to 9% in 2010. This points towards the logic of possibly retaining the profits within Montenegro in a secured international bank as possibly the cleverest way to deal with taxation. No information on corporate or private individuals can be accessed by international institutions and/or tax authorities without prior consent of the individuals. It is highly unlikely that Montenegro will ever join the EU. This little country is set to become a tourism Mecca with tax haven potential.
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