(Podgorica, 1 March 2012) – In addition to the Government of Montenegro, one of the main culprits in the destruction of Montenegro’s economy is the Prosecutor’s Office, which has failed to do anything in suppressing corruption and organized crime.
One of the ways in which tycoons have managed to line their pockets at the expense of workers and the state budget, especially in the north, was through bankruptcy proceedings. Nevertheless, the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the majority of criminal charges and most of the motions put forward as a result of abuses committed during the bankruptcy proceedings for the Jakić Corporation, Gornji Ibar, Šuplja Stena, Optel, Lenka, HTP Brskovo, etc.
Although their property was stripped, ending up in the private pockets of domestic tycoons or criminals – while hundreds of workers were left to fend for themselves in order to feed their families – the prosecution did not see anything controversial in bankruptcy proceedings that have all the hallmarks of an organized crime enterprise.
When the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office failed to dismiss motions filed by MANS in the name of workers robbed by the “transition in the north,” it simply ignored them. The Prosecutor’s Office, during the mandate of Vesna Medenica and mainly Ranka Čarapić dismissed MANS’ motions in relation to Bijelo Polje’s Vunko, Prva Petoljetka, Rudnik Šuplja stijena and in Plevlja Gornji Ibar, the Jakić Corporation, Optel, etc.
In the majority of these enterprises, and especially in those that fell under the sway of tycoons, the same bankruptcy administrators and judges kept reappearing (which didn’t raise any questions for prosecutors). Bijelo Polje Commercial Court Judge Zoran Ašanin continues to lead judicial proceedings in the few remaining enterprises that are active, participating in last year’s liquidation of DD Kolašin and the bankruptcy of the Automobile Society in Bijelo Polje.
In tandem with bankruptcy administrators Radojica Grba and Rajko Dragaš he managed to liquidate through bankruptcy Plevlja-based Sloga, AD Prevoz, Optel, Jakić and Građevinar through at the very least controversial rulings often linked to Dragan Brković. Was Ašanin adequately ‘rewarded’ for his work or was he receiving instructions from Podgorica? Regardless, Dragaš became a director in Brković’s company.
That fact that as bankruptcy administrator and Vektra director he allowed Brković to earn from concessions over Plevlja’s forests, the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office found nothing untoward in it since it rejected MANS’ 2010 complaint. While it still has to rule on the new organized crime motion submitted by MANS (though even here we shouldn’t expect any big surprises).
Even in the few cases when the Prosecutor’s Office did do its job, MPs in the Assembly of Montenegro stood in the way by protecting Commercial Court judges – among whom was Ašanin – from criminal prosecution by shielding them with immunity.
How did Veselin Barović manage to turn Bjelasica Rada into a loss-making firm even though Montenegro imports mineral water? Why were forestry companies like Gornji Ibar destroyed and stripped of their property by privileged investors? Why is our government not interested in the mining wealth in Berane’s surroundings? Perhaps Ranka Čarapić might have some answers that would help her do her job.
However, in the Prosecutor Office’s building it seems that the most effective work is done by the archival service, which patiently archives all the Pandora’s boxes that Čarapić does not dare open. It is for this reason that she can no longer remain at the head of the State Prosecutor’s Office since she hasn’t been doing her job.
