The trial in the Abu Dhabi Fund case continued today at the Higher Court in Podgorica, with the hearing of the defendants.
In addition to former Minister of Agriculture Petar Ivanović, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Budimir Mugoša, former Director of the Investment and Development Fund Zoran Vukčević, and appraiser Milan Adžić have also been indicted on charges of misusing a 50 million loan.
The defense before the court was given by Zoran Vukčević, former director of the IRF.
"In everything, I stand by the statement I gave before the SDT, with the addition that I do not admit guilt for the criminal offense I am charged with. My guilt is based, as presented in the indictment, on the business cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and IRF. However, nowhere in the agreement is there an obligation for IRF to provide an economic and financial opinion on the given collateral. IRF's obligation was reflected in providing a formal legal opinion, i.e. the registration of any lien in the land register. As for the specific company "IMGradina" DOO Rožaje, I can state that IRF provided a formal legal opinion, the Ministry of Agriculture concluded a contract with it four months before it received the IRF's opinion. I would also like to point out that the formal legal opinion that was submitted to the Ministry was not given by me, but by the legal department within IRF, and I signed it. IRF's obligation was not this either, however, we did it out of the correct relations we had with the Ministry. I would also like to point out that we were not provided with the loan agreement between the Ministry and the company IMGradina, which was their obligation under the business cooperation agreement, which means that our opinion in that situation was given without knowledge of the loan amount. Finally, I would like to state and repeat once again that nowhere in the agreement is the IRF obligation defined, which is charged against me in the indictment, and that I did not perform any unscrupulous work in the service," Vukčević emphasized.
Adžić, the appraiser, gave his defense and referred to "IMGradina" DOO Rožaje.
"I gave my assessment of the real estate according to the rules of the profession and science. The opinion of appraiser Rakočević is unprofessional, biased and biased, which will be seen during the proceedings. When I assessed the real estate that I am charged with in the indictment, I took into account the fact that it is land located in an industrial zone, that it is 1,6 km from the main road to MK and 200 m from the main road Berane - Rožaje. During the assessment, I was guided by market conditions, and I would like to state that different appraisers give different assessments."
The former director of the payments directorate at the Ministry of Agriculture, the defendant Branislav Radulović, said he was not guilty and that he would defend himself by remaining silent at today's trial. He added that he would make a statement in the continuation of the proceedings if he deemed it necessary.
Ivanovic explained that the terms of the contract with the end-users of the loans, such as the interest rate, repayment period and method of security - were defined by the basic contract with the Abu Dhabi Fund, which was previously approved by the Government, the Protector of Property and Legal Interests and the Parliament. During his term, Ivanovic concluded six such contracts, while his successor Budimir Mugoša signed three. Mugoša previously pointed out that the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the state, did not suffer any damage based on these arrangements.
Ivanovic stated at the indictment review hearing.
"There are six loans, two of which have been duly repaid, with interest. The repayment of one is in progress. Collateral was secured for three loans, the value of which exceeds the amounts of the loans given. How did I provide someone with a benefit, if someone else did not initiate the procedure for collecting the collateral," asked Ivanovic.
An indictment has been filed against former Ministers of Agriculture Petar Ivanović and Budimir Mugoša, due to reasonable suspicion that they committed the extended criminal offense of abuse of official position, when distributing funds from the Abu Dhabi Development Fund loan from 2015 to 2017. The indictment includes former Director of the Investment and Development Fund Zoran Vukčević and former Director of the Payments Directorate at the Ministry of Agriculture Blagota Radulović.
The SDT charges the former director of the Investment and Development Fund of Montenegro Vukčević with the criminal offense of negligent work in the service.
The indictment was also brought against Milan Adžić, for the criminal offense of abuse of assessment.
Adžić is suspected of the criminal offense of abuse of discretion, because, as stated in the indictment, there is a reasonable suspicion that they obtained a benefit for the company "IMGradina" DOO Rožaje through their actions. It is suspected that they seriously violated the rights and caused damage to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the process of settling claims from the Loan Agreement from the given collateral. "In relation to the accused legal entities "Vektra-Jakić" DOO Pljevlja, "Milkraft Leche" DOO Bijelo Polje, "HM Durmitor" DOO Žabljak, "EKO-PER" DOO Šavnik, "IMGradina" DOO Rožaje and their responsible persons Dragan Brković, Krsto Knežević, Vladimir Kujundžić, Džemal Škrijelj and Ljubo Perišić, the investigation for the continued criminal offense of abuse of official position through aiding and abetting and unfounded obtaining and using loans and other benefits has been suspended," the SDT announced earlier.
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