(Podgorica, 5 February 2013) – Tomorrow MANS will submit criminal charges against the old/new Minister of Urban Planning and Protection of the Environment, Branimir Gvozdenović, to the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime and Corruption Đurđina Ivanović. The charges relate to allegations that he abused his position by failing in his administrative duties during the issuing of several construction and use permits for the reconstruction of the gas station owned by Plevlja-based MAT Company.
MAT Company is one of the firms owned by the Šarić family, which has been identified as a channel for the laundering of funds obtained through drug trafficking by the narco-group organized by Darko Šarić.
Namely, the responsible Ministry headed by Gvozdenović, issued within a year several construction and use permits for the reconstruction of a gas station in Pljevlja at the request of MAT Company.
First on 2 October 2008, the company requested a construction permit for the reconstruction of the gas station from the relevant Ministry, which issued the permit on 27 November 2008. Only seven days after the issuing of this permit, the Šarić’s addressed Gvozdenović with a request to issue a use permit as well. Only seven days were required for MAT Company to complete the reconstruction of the station and meet all the criteria needed for a construction permit. Even though this points to the conclusion that the reconstruction of the gas station began before the required construction permit, Gvozdenović nevertheless issued the use permit in the middle of March of 2009.
Shortly thereafter, within four months, the Šarić family decided to again renovate the same gas station. Another request for a construction permit was sent to Gvozedenović on 27 July 2009. This request was rapidly processed, and within four days, the Šarićs received a new construction permit on 31 July 2009 (a speed that very few investors have been accustomed to).
Later it turned out that this “reconstruction” lasted even shorter than the previous one, because the Šarićs (i.e. MAT Company) had submitted the request on 28 July, three days before the issuing of the construction permit. This formally means that the works were already complete even before the issuing of the construction permit, pointing to the conclusion that the issuance of a new construction permit was necessary only to ensure that the works on the gas station would be formalized after the fact.
We believe that such a praxis shouldn’t have gone unnoticed and that Minister Gvozdeenović should have been aware that his ministry was dealing with fictitious maneuvers, i.e. attempts to legalize work on the gas station after the fact. Since in 2008, illegal construction was already considered a criminal act, it is understandable that MAT Company sought to avoid any legal liabilities. Given the information on the permits issued that we’ve presented, there exists considerable suspicion that the previous and current minister Gvozdeenović assisted them in obtaining all the required paperwork.
MANS calls on the relevant State Prosecutor to immediately investigate all the facts in the case and the work of Minister Gvozdeenović, including any formal and informal communications that he might have possibly had with the Šarić brothers (including other representatives of MAT Company tied to this and similar cases under his jurisdiction). The State Prosecutor should investigate whether and in what ways Gvozdenović was prodded, forced or stimulated to secure the required permits for the controversial gas station.
We believe that such servile behaviour by an institution and the individual heading it is absolutely unacceptable, especially when dealing with those who are accused of trafficking enormous sums of cocaine and for money laundering, as is the case with the Šarić brothers.
