Azmont to open luxury resort in Montenegro in 2017

/By AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

A luxury resort with the Azerbaijani capital is due to open in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro next year.

Azmont Investments, a Montenegrin-based subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s energy company SOCAR, plans to open the Portonovi tourist resort in summer 2017. In July 2012, SOCAR signed a lease agreement with the Montenegrin government for the site of the former Orijen Battalion barracks in Kumbor, in the Herceg Novi area, and pledged to invest at least 250 million euro.

The company has already invested three times more than it was planned in the construction of the Portonovi tourist resort launched in 2013, the company’s deputy CEO told SeeNews.

Azmont has directed 150.5 million euro ($165.2 million) into the construction of the luxury coastal tourist resort in Montenegro by the end of 2015, even though commitments in the lease agreement signed with the country’s government in 2012 impose investments worth 52 million euro within the first four years, Rashad Rasullu said.

The company is ready to spend more in order to put Montenegro on the world map of high-end tourist destinations, Rasullu noted.

The deputy CEO believes the next three years, especially 2016 and 2017, will be very active as the Italian-based main contractor Pizzarotti & C. S.P.A will bring new dynamic and deep know-how in terms of construction management.

The resort is planned to be open in phase. The marina scheduled to greet its first guests in the summer of 2017.

Portonovi with its exclusive hotel, Henri Chenot Spa, a 220 berth superyacht marina, two beach clubs, a tennis center, 273 luxurious apartments and residential units will be an exclusive world-class, mixed-use, lifestyle resort targeted at high end clientele, the deputy CEO added. “Our ambition is to set new standards within Montenegro and across the entire Mediterranean.”

Along with this resort, Azmont also invested in the upscale One&Only branded hotel in Portonovi, which is planned to be open in 2018.

“This has brought our investment to more than half a billion euro which is more than our obligations in the lease agreement,” Rasullu noted.

Earlier, Azmont announced possibility of launching a bank in Montenegro. The company has applied for a license and is currently waiting to commence official procedures.

Apart from Montenegrin luxury beachside real estate and banking, the company is also exploring investment possibilities in both its existing business’ and new, potential sectors.

At present, Azerbaijan and Montenegro is developing their ties by clinching new agreements on bilateral cooperation.

The project in Montenegro is the largest Azerbaijani investment project in tourism outside the country.