Nearly 99% of Zeta voters opposed the wastewater project in the December 14 referendum. About 63% of the municipality’s 13,000 eligible voters took part in the non-binding vote, Asanovic said, as seen in a video posted on Radio Free Europe’s Balkans YouTube channel.
The long-planned project includes the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant for Podgorica, a sludge incineration plant, and an extension of the sewerage network that will enable the collection and treatment of the wastewater in line with EU standards, as per the project presentation posted on the website of the EU's Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).
Built in the 1970s for 50,000 people, Podgorica’s wastewater plant now serves over 180,000 residents, leaving about half of the effluent untreated and discharged into the Moraca river, which flows into Skadar Lake national park.
The project is supported by a 35 million euro loan from KfW and 34 million euro in grant funding from WBIF, whereas the remainder will be provided by Montenegro itself.
DEMANDS AND PROMISES
The new facilities will be built in the former KAP aluminium smelter’s industrial zone near Botun, where residents have long opposed the project, citing past health impacts from the plant and ongoing risks from KAP’s untreated red mud basin.
Locals have long demanded a new location, but a relocation would take time. Podgorica mayor Sasa Mujovic said Montenegro must start building by the end of 2025 to avoid penalties on approved loans and grants.
The project, along with the remediation of KAP's toxic red mud basin, is also crucial for Montenegro's EU accession negotiations on closing Chapter 27 on environment and climate change.
To break the deadlock, the government last week moved to convince locals that the new plant poses no health or environmental risk, pledging to rehabilitate KAP’s red mud basin and hazardous landfill first, with the plant only starting operations afterward.
The government also pledged to continuously monitor emissions from the plant and halt operations if they exceed EU limits, with the measures costing 45 million euro, ecology minister Damjan Culafic said, according to a video on state broadcaster's RTCG’s YouTube channel.
Last week, prime minister Milojko Spajic met Botun residents to present the measures, but after Sunday’s referendum, locals said their main demand - a change of location - was unmet, and they will continue opposing the project.
PROJECT DETAILS
Back in June 2022, local public utility company Vodovod i Kanalizacija (ViK) Podgorica signed a 47 million euro contract with a joint venture of Turkish firms Kuzu Group and Alkatas to carry out the construction of the plant (WWTP), a sewage sludge treatment plant (SSTP) and a sewage sludge incineration plant (SSIP), according to information on the website of the city of Podgorica.
The project has three sections: Section One covers the WWTP, SSTP, a small hydro-power plant, and common facilities (30-month construction + 12-month defect period); Section Two covers the SSIP (36 months + 24-month defect period); Section Three provides technical operation support (two years for Section One, three years for Section Two).
In September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Montenegro issued a permit for the project, which will be developed on an area of 12.7 hectares on the left bank of the Moraca river. The designated land belongs to the city of Podgorica and KAP.
The plant will serve 235,000 population equivalent, with Germany’s Fichtner Water & Transportation GmbH as project consultant, according to ViK Podgorica.
(SeeNews, December 16, 2025)