Home / Information / Justice for All: €15 Million Investment Stalled for Two Years Due to Slow Bureaucracy

Justice for All: €15 Million Investment Stalled for Two Years Due to Slow Bureaucracy

For two years, the married couple Zoran and Habiba Legac have been trying to obtain a location permit from the City of Senj for the construction of the Senia hotel for health tourism, valued at €15 million, but they have not succeeded. I recently spoke with them about this, casually, while preparing a topic about their company Feroimpex automotive technology, and given that the investment has stalled, we would like to encourage the authorities in Senj to expedite the resolution of this issue.

As we can see, this is a significant amount of money, with the Legacs being the majority investors, and a foreign investor will also contribute. Interestingly, as they told me, there are several interested foreign investors who are patient primarily because they are doing business with this married couple, but the question is for how long.

>>>Justice for All: I inform all interested parties that I cannot find workers for them in Bosnia

The project was described to me by architect Biljana Vlašić, who said that this health-tourism facility with four stars will span 10,400 square meters with 115 rooms that can easily be converted into hospital rooms.

A barochamber is also planned – a complex medical device that provides people with a stay in an environment of elevated or reduced pressure compared to normal atmospheric pressure of one bar.

A lot of things

– It will have three halls for congress tourism that can be repurposed into wards as needed, as well as a restaurant, laboratory, gym, sauna, pools, garages… – Vlašić tells me.

In addition, the complex would include space for physical therapy, diagnostic examination by magnetic resonance, a maternity ward, and, in agreement with local authorities, an emergency service considering that Senj currently has only one such service, which can be problematic especially during the tourist season when there is an increased influx of guests.

In Spasovac, a part of Senj, an investment has been prepared for the construction of a health-tourism hotel. Investors, besides domestic ones, expect foreign guests, but for two years now, the Senj city council has been delaying the issuance of the location permit, without explanation for either the investors or the journalist.

In support of this, there is a docking facility within the complex planned for the transport of emergency cases by sea to the hospitals in Zadar and Rijeka. The hotel-spa building is expected to have seven floors, and, as Vlašić says, it is a very ambitious project that investors believe will attract many foreign tourists, especially since foreign investors would also be involved in attracting guests.

But as I mentioned, things are not going so simply, although both the Legac couple and Vlašić say they have had unwavering support from local authorities, as well as the opposition, and even politicians were enthusiastic about the idea. However, there is still no location permit. I must admit that I initially thought something was wrong with the project because if I were the head of such a small community where someone wants to invest such a large sum, I believe I would do everything to realize it as soon as possible, so that the investor does not walk away.

>>>Justice for All: Geothermal Sources in Babina Greda are Stagnating

I have encountered such situations before, where someone tells me a very convincing story, but when I ask the other side, it turns out there are reasons why something is happening.

Beware of the Silence of Senj

In response to my inquiry to the City Council of Senj about why there is a wait for the issuance of the location permit for this greenfield investment and whether a resolution can be expected soon and when, I did not receive an answer, which should mean that in this case, everything primarily depends on the local authorities.

So, for now, there is no sign of any resolution from the City of Senj, which Vlašić confirmed to us, although from her response to my questions, it does not seem that she or the Legacs are particularly nervous. After all, the three of them have told me several times that this issue will surely be resolved; it just requires overcoming the usual bureaucratic ailments.

Most likely, in this case, it is primarily about the sluggishness of bureaucrats, not about making things difficult for investors. Therefore, we should not immediately throw stones at them, but we should warn them that waiting two years for a permit is indeed too much, and it would be alarming if investors ultimately gave up on everything.


POST SCRIPTUM

The idea for the health-tourism hotel complex Sania is at least 27 years old. Namely, back in 1991, the married couple Zoran and Habiba Legac decided on this investment in Spasovac near Senj and received a location permit from the local authorities there. However, when the war broke out, the investment stalled, and after a few years, according to the regulations at the time, the Legacs lost the location permit due to not commencing construction. During that time, they invested in other projects, and two years ago, with the support of foreign business partners, they decided to re-enter this story. As they say, it is not just about the investment, but also about employing skilled personnel and collaborating with all family farms in the vicinity of Senj and beyond.