Former director of the Airport of Montenegro (ACG) Danilo Orlandic announced yesterday that he was against the extension of the deposit agreement with Atlas Bank, after, among other things, from the media and conversations with friends from that sector, he concluded that the bank Duško Knežević it doesn't fit very well.
He said this while testifying in the continuation of the trial in the Aerodromi case, in which the Special Prosecutor's Office (STP) charges Knežević, the former director of the bank Marko Nikolić and former deputy executive director Dijana Zečević that they damaged the state enterprise for three million euros, because they did not return their deposit even after the deadline expired.
Orlandić clarified that the annex to the contract with Atlas Bank was sent to that state-owned company on August 8, 2018...
"There was a story in the media about the problems in Atlas Bank... I didn't make a decision right away, but I thought, because I saw that ACG had previously earned income from interest, but after 15 days I made a decision that the funds should not be termed," he said. he was in court yesterday.
He explained that he was thinking about how to put himself in that situation, because, as he claims, they benefited from the interest, but that they primarily needed the money due to the construction of the terminal at the Tivat airport.
"Perhaps they would have rescheduled the funds if there were no investments in Tivat," said the witness at the trial yesterday.
He explained that, despite the fact that they did not sign the annex to the contract, the interest paid by Atlas banka arrived on their account, but he claims that they promptly returned that money.
"Through this, we expressed that we do not want rescheduling," said Orlandić.
The defense lawyers asked Orlandić if he knew that Atlas banka introduced a temporary administration in December 2018, in order to protect the interests of depositors and prevent further deterioration of the financial situation in that institution, to which the former director of ACG said that he did not know at that time. where the funds are located, i.e. in whose account.
"I assume they are in the Atlas Bank account, that's why we were looking for them. If the funds were in our account, we would spend them. I cannot remember whether at the time of the introduction of the temporary administration, funds were transferred to the ACG account. The transfer of funds was not important because we could not use that money. I signed the document requesting that the funds be transferred to the ACG transaction account. I don't remember if we asked the temporary administration for three million euros, I assume we did, nor do I remember if I contacted anyone after the introduction of that administration, the enforcement or bankruptcy administrator of Atlas Bank," said Orlandić.
Accused Knežević previously repeated several times that there is no question of illegal actions, calling the seizure of three million euros from the transaction account of the Airport of Montenegro in Atlas Bank, during the bankruptcy proceedings, the robbery of the century.
During yesterday's trial, the defense lawyers repeatedly asked the former director of the Airport why he did not initiate legal proceedings and thus return the money to that state-owned company, but instead decided to file a criminal complaint.
"We did not file a lawsuit in civil proceedings, because we considered that a criminal complaint was the measure for that. In my opinion, it was a classic abuse of office and why should I wait for a lawsuit, when I can file a criminal complaint," he said.
He added that he decided on that move because otherwise he would be responsible for that money.
When asked why he waited from August 2018 until April 2019 to file a criminal complaint, he said that during that period they could not find a lawyer in Montenegro who would oppose the then powerful Duško Knežević.
Knežević stated that the former government also put pressure on him in this way, while the defense lawyers stated that the motive for filing the report was a total attack on that banker, against whom SDT initiated several criminal proceedings in that period.
In one part of the trial, Orlandić stated that they could not use their money, which the defense denied, saying that they could do so, but "under certain circumstances"...
"The testimony of Orlandić was unfounded, without any facts, he said that he did not know or was not an expert for the function he performed... All this is a deliberate construction of the SDT, with Lidija Vukčević and Milivoj Katnić at the helm," he said yesterday. Knezevic.
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