Word: montenegro
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...Munk's project is one of the biggest in a region long riven by wars and political turmoil. Montenegro was sealed off from the outside world by the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and later by its political alliance with Serbia. But since winning independence from Belgrade in 2006, it has seen a rush to develop its pristine coastline, sparking worries among some locals that their patrimony may be sold off in unsustainable ways. "Montenegrins have good reason to be incredulous," says Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, during an interview in the just-completed Hotel Splendid in the bustling...
...nearly four centuries by the Venetians, who left their architectural mark. There have been more recent periods of glory, too. Back in the 1970s, the red-tiled resort island of Sveti Stefan was a summer retreat for the likes of Sophia Loren, Kirk Douglas and Doris Day. But Montenegro slipped into obscurity in the 1990s. Djukanovic and others unwisely sided with Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic and sent troops into Bosnia and Croatia. It wasn't until 1997 that Djukanovic broke with Milosevic, a divorce completed nine years later with the declaration of independence...
...Munk recalls his first meeting with Djukanovic in 2004 when Montenegro was still joined to Serbia. "He said to me: 'I am going to get independence and I want to raise the standard of living of my people. The way I can do this is turn this into another Monaco.' I told him, 'If you mean what you say, then you've got one of the only men in the world who can make it happen...
...when the government of what was then Serbia and Montenegro approached him in 2004 with an idea to privatize an old Austro-Hungarian-era arsenal not far from Kotor, Munk met Djukanovic and says he "fell in love" with him. Djukanovic lent him a government helicopter to look at the site: "It was mind-blowing," Munk recalls. "I saw these frigates and warships and submarines and thought that here a superyacht would feel right at home...
...Some eyebrows were raised in Montenegro when the government agreed to a $5 million sale price for about 62 acres (25 ha) of land and a half-mile (0.8 km) stretch of palm-shaded shoreline facing a wide bay backed by mountains. But, contends Djukanovic, "you either sell the land or buy a project. We bought a project." In addition to creating an estimated 5,000 jobs when finished, the investors agreed to clean up the waters around the site, buy out about 480 workers who lost their jobs when the shipyard shut down, and upgrade Tivat's sewage...