MANS today filed a criminal complaint to the Supreme State Prosecutor against the bankruptcy administrator of the Alumni Plant Podgorica (APP) Veselin Perisic, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, The Minister of Economy Vladimir Kavaric, and the Protector of Property Law Interests Mirjana Milic, because of the illegal sale of the property that belongs to the factory in Podgorica to a company “Uniprom” from Niksic.
As responsible people they are suspected of authority abuse and exceeding the power in the sale of assets of APP, actually violation of the rules of the of the bankruptcy proceedings and the adoption of a series of illegal acts, in order of sale of assets of the company and its owner Veselin Pejovic under the lowest price and to grant privileges to the detriment of the state budget.
In both calls for the sale of APP from the prospective buyer was not required to continue manufacturing process in APP, so the owner of Uniprom did not have an obligation to state in his offer what he is going to do with the property of APP after purchase. In this regard, Uniprom did not have to meet any condition, unless to have the money.
Despite this, the offer by Uniprom in addition to offered price contained and the investments, which was actually just a basis for the placement of a set of new requirements very similar to those that Oleg Deripaska submitted to the Government in 2005 when APP was sold the first time, when was certain that the full cost of such privatization would pay only citizens of Montenegro.
MANS’s research center came to the document with the offer which contains a number of conditions which Uniprom requested in order to buy the property of APP, and the Government in its official statements tried to hide from the public.
Public in Montenegro until today is not aware that Uniprom actually asked for subsidies for electricity not only for five years, but the possibility for its extension left open. This is not only contrary to the Energy Law, but also the Stabilization and Association Agreement signed with the EU. As the former owner of APP enjoyed the privileges of using electricity at a subsidized price, which even as such did not pay, it is expected that the new APP’s electricity bills, as well, will be devolved on the state budget, actually at the expense of the citizens of Montenegro.
In addition, the Government kept silent about the fact that Uniprom and Pejovic requested solving of social problem according to the model used in the Steelworks Niksic, which meant that the Government is directly involved in the severance payments. This also represents a form of subsidy for APP that would be funded out from the pockets of citizens.
The rest of the conditions that Uniprom requested resemble what the Russians a few years ago requested from the Government of Montenegro, including exemption from paying taxes, utilities, taxes and fees. Beside that, Pejovic requires that the factory is factually freed as well from all burdens, that all occupancy permits are immediately issued, so redevelopment of the space is carried out by adopting a new planning document.
All that Pejovic asked for in his offers it should eliminate him as a bidder, because no one in Montenegro could promise what he asked for with that offer and not to violate a range of laws. Obviously that was not a problem for the bankruptcy trustee, Veselin Perisic, who with the strong assistance of the Government, rime Minster and Minister of Economy, accepted Uniprom’s offer.
When it comes to bankruptcy proceeding, the Government of Montenegro, or any of its department did not have any authority to engage in the process or to make any decision. However, the Government illegally adopted a set of conclusions used as agreement with everything that Uniprom asked for, giving the bankruptcy trustee additional alibi for a crime that was committed.
Duty of the bankruptcy trustee Veselin Perisic was to independently, without anyone’s assistance, and even the Government and the Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, consider Uniprom’s offer and to make a decision based on law and not on anyone’s private interest. According to the Law on Bankruptcy, the first and foremost goal of the bankruptcy trustee is to better sell the property of the bankruptcy state of the APP in order to ensure that as many creditors collect their debts. The offer, as Uniprom submitted, it had to be immediately rejected by Perisic, because it is not just completely illegal, but also very harmful to the public interest.
In connection to this, the total area of land for sale as the property of APP is about 2.5 million square meters, and in the second call only that land without objects was estimated to 52 million euros. According to data from the Real Estate, from the total area for sale, over 2.3 million is registered not as the property of APP but only on the basis of the right of use.
If the offer, accepted by Perisic, is realized completely that would mean, according to the Law on Bankruptcy, that the land worth 52 million is sold to Uniprom for half of that amount. Specifically, in the Section 140 in the Law on Bankruptcy relating to bankruptcy sale of the property through bankruptcy is stated: “When a buyer pays the price, on a buyer is transferred the OWNERSHIP RIGHT for the purchased property without the BURDEN.” In this way Uniprom buys a square meter of land for unreal 11 euros per 1m2, while at the same time buildings, factory plants, equipment and inventory are literally given away as a gift. Signing the contract with Uniprom, Montenegro immediately loses more than 20 million euros just on the basis of the value of the land, and who knows how much in the future based on the subsidies, tax brakes, and other benefits.
There is no doubt that with this kind of sale the state would immediately be damaged, which was enough basis for the reaction on the offer and its acceptance by Mirjana Milic, Protector of property interests of Monetengro, who is also a member of the creditors’s committee of APP, bearing in mind that the factory owns most to the state. Her only obligation in this entity was to protect interests of Montenegro, and why her reaction was lacking Milic should explain to the prosecutor.
Finally, the implementation of Uniprom’s offer would mean a new round of economic exhaustion of the citizens of Montenegro, and with the bankruptcy APP’s problem would not be sold, but only would get a new, domestic Deripaska. Therefore MANS invites all relevant entities, primarily the prosecution, to prevent the contract realization with Uniprom on time, and new brutal robbery of citizens of Montenegro.
MANS
