We completely understand that in the absence of facts, the representatives of the Electric Power Company of Montenegro (EPCG) would resort to the crudest manipulations. Nevertheless, it is unbelievable that the EPCG is now trying to deny the facts as presented by MANS concerning the tax write-offs they received (and in spite of the fact that the Government published a document entitled “Decision to Write Off Tax Claims”).
First, absolutely every document from the Ministry of Finance that the government released today relates to the government’s decision to write-off tax claims and VAT charges that we (as consumers) paid to EPCG through our electricity bills – a fact that MANS has already drawn attention to.
Second, the reasons for the VAT write-off are now absurdly being used to deny MANS’ claims that the tax we already paid had been previously written off. Every document released by the government confirms that the VAT was written-off.
Third, the EPCG statement claims – among other things – that the government wrote-off the VAT because because the water infrastructure, state-owned enterprises, as well as religious and sports organizations, etc. haven’t been paying their own electricity bills. Of course, no one from the government is volunteering to explain how it is possible that these institutions and companies have not settled their electricity bills, given that they should have planned for these costs in their budgets (raising the question of where these funds ended up).
However, the decision on the tax write-off was signed by then Minister of Finance and current Prime Minister Igor Lukšić – who recently told citizens that they need to rely on themselves to get by – while failing to explain how various state and parastate institutions paid their VAT charges (which we paid through our electricity bills).
In the end, the EPCG’s statement only confirms that tomorrow’s protest is provoking enormous concern in that company and in the government (and certainly in the ranks of domestic and foreign tycoons). We believe that they all have reason for concern, since Montenegro’s citizens have decided to no longer silently sit and pay the price of their corruption.
Vanja Ćalović
Executive director
