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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Serbs' fears and the real estate market in MontenegroIf you are Serb and have real estate in the tiny Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, you may be planning to sell your property as soon as possible and to take your money far away. In Serbia there are strong fears that in the coming months the western-oriented Montenegro government will call a referendum on independence and the smaller Yugoslav republic will follow the others which broke away from the federation in the recent years. Serbs fear a repetition of the Croatian phenomenon, i.e. the confiscation of property by the local population. Their plans to sell and move even if understandable aren't too clever and panic among Serbs in the recent months isn't a good sign. Many Serbs simply sell their homes which reduces prices on the local real estate market. In the Adriatic sea cosy coast villages. where only 2-3 years ago houses cost $500-600 USD/sq.meter (1 sq.meter=10 sq.feet) prices are now $200-250 USD/sq.meter. Even in the most luxurious residential areas, until recently occupied mainly by political, economic and military elite of the federation, prices went below $500 USD/sq.meter. Other Serbs, especially businessmen, try to hide the national origin of the property owner. They sell their offices to fictitious off-shore firms, which are held by their own. There are some lucky Serbs who attempt to sell their properties to real foreign individuals wishing to settle in Montenegro. The rest of them are paying huge sums to mutual Serb-Montenegro real estate agencies which offer property management services in case the Serb owners are refused the right to enter Montenegro. The sell off began immediately after Montenegro decided last year to introduce the German Mark as a parallel national currency. Belgrade (Yugoslav capital) retaliated by imposing first financial and later trade embargo on the tiny republic of only half million. This scenario is reminescenst of Slovenian and Croatian cases of 1991 when the separation was also preceded by trade and financial wars. Both Serbs and Montenegrans are Orthodox Christians which partly explains why until recently Serbs felt secure investing in Montenegro. Even after the separation of Slovenia and Croatia, Serbs continued to build in Montenegro which was considered almost as a part of Serbia itself. During the former Yugoslavia the Serbs, which by far were the most numerous nation in the former federation, built their vacation properties on the Adriatic sea coast in Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro, because Serbia lacks a seacoast. For their part, officials in Montenegro deny any suggestion that they plan the nationalize Serb held properties in the republic. We are trying to build a state of the law country where the rights of the individuals, both local and foreign, will be equally protected, said most of them if asked to comment on the Serb sell off. Montenegro authorities appealed to the Serbs not to sell their houses because in Serbia their money will be in danger far exceeding any hypothetical threat in the smaller coastal republic. They point out the facts that the Serb custom officers (Serbia has created its custom service on the administrative border with Montenegro) check for hard currency that later has to be deposited in state-controlled banks or to be exchanged for the local currency at the official rate (the official exchange rate is half the rate on the black market). So if a Serb in Montenegro now sells his property, he will lose as much as half of the price because of the market collapse and later as much as the half of the money he receives because of the state regulations in Serbia. Thus a house with a market price of $40,000 USD two years ago can be sold now for $20,000 USD and after the official exchange in Serbia the former owner will get as little as the equivalent of $10,000 USD. With 10 to 20 percent inflation a month this money will be washed down within a year. If he prefers to keep the hard currency he has to deposit it in a state-owned or state-controlled bank that may close at any time soon and take his money away.
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See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Montenegro.
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