(Podgorica, 27 June 2012) – The Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office still hasn’t informed that it rejected the criminal charges recently filed by MANS with the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime. The charges were filed in relation to the recapitalization of EPCG and the holding of money from this process in the First Bank (Prva Banka).
The daily Vijesti reported that these charges had already been rejected, which indicates the servility of the prosecutorial bodies in this country to the interests of the First Family [the Djukanovic family]and that as an institution it is totally captured by private interests.
MANS has, due to the abuse of power in an organized way, filed charges against former Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and his successor Igor Luksic, the Vice-President of the Government Vujica Lazovic, as well as the management of the ECPG (Srdjan Kovacevic, Enrico Malerbe, Nikola Martinovic, Miodrag Canovic, Boris Buskovic, Mauro Miglio, Renato Ravanelli and Emiglio Rio.
The charges are backed by official documents belonging to the EPCG demonstrating that the money from the recapitalization of the energy company is held in the First Bank, which is majority owned by Aco Djukanovic, brother of the former Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic (who also holds shares in the bank).
Since November to late 2009, the EPCG held EURO 81-million in First Bank deposits with an interest rate of 5.6%, and then held EURO 45-million the following year at an interest rate of 6%. EURO 42-million was shifted to deposits with a maturity of three months at an incredible interest rate of 1-2%.
The newest information that MANS has obtained indicate that in 2011, the EPCG continued its problematic financial policies, shifting all its deposits to accounts with an interest rate of 1-2% (while taking out loans from other banks at considerably higher interest rates). All this is being paid by the citizens who are now faced with higher electricity bills.
On the other hand, the main justification for the recapitalization and partial privatization of the EPCG was to bring in a “strategic”
partner that would invest its money in the modernization of the energy company. This was clearly stated in the partial privatization process, something that should be familiar to the Prosecutor’s Office.
However, the EPCG has never withdrawn the money of its “strategic”
partner, Italy’s A2A, from the First Bank. This is because A2A’s deposits are crucial to maintaining the First Bank’s liquidity. This has been confirmed by Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) reports that were recently released by a network of investigative journalists and that are publicly accessible.
At the same time, it is interesting to note that the prosecutor’s office headed by Ranka Carapic has expressly acted and that it was able to in less than a month gather all evidence, hire experts and investigate all of the accused.
Carapic should announce who exactly was investigated during the investigation, and whether it even called upon the Djukanovic brothers or the management of the EPCG. She should do this especially given the fact that her husband’s company has had a number of contracts with EPCG.
Regardless of the prosecutor’s rejection of the charges we filed, MANS will continue to file them in order to leave a written record concerning the multiple abuses of power and damage being done to the public interest – all for the narrow interests of the First Family and associated individuals.
This is especially important given that one day all those who abused their positions will have to answer for their crime and the question of responsibility will be opened (not only for the direct participants in these deals, but also the state prosecutors who have kept numerous cases in their desk drawers gathering dust or shoved under the rug).
This is what the European Union is requesting of Montenegro, reaffirming yesterday its commitment to ensure the rule of law in this country when it outlined the final criteria for accession negotiations (especially when it comes to the fight against organized crime).
