Podgorica (18 March 2011) – MANS submitted a complaint to the Administrative Court this week against the Ministry of Economy for obstructing the release of information relating to the setting up of a submarine electricity cable connecting Montenegro and Italy.
The Ministry responded to MANS’ request for releasing the agreements relating to the submarine cable by claiming that it needs the consent of all contracting parties, that is to say Montenegro’s Prenos and Italy’s Terna.
The Ministry stated that in the: “Purchase and Sale Agreement, the Strategic and Action Agreement and the Agreement on the Coordination of Projects there are clauses dealing with confidentiality that ensure that none of the partners will make public statements without the consent of the other partners.”
We would like to remind the public that the agreement on the submarine cable was signed in November 2010 by representatives of Prenos and Terna, as well as the former Minister of Economy at the time Branko Vujović, which means that the Ministry is one of the contracting parties.
For this reason, the Ministry’s justification can only be seen as an attempt to prevent the public from finding out the details of the agreement signed with its Italian partner.
Furthermore, this action by Vladimir Kavarić, the new Minister of Economy, contravenes the recent resolution of the European Parliament, which calls on Montenegro’s authorities to make the development of energy projects between Montenegro and Italy more transparent.
MANS calls on the Ministry of Economy to release its copy of the Submarine Cable Agreement so that the public can learn of the conditions under which this deal will be carried out and what benefits will accrue to Montenegro (if any) as a result.
Dejan Milovac
Deputy Executive Director
