Brankica Bašović is no longer the director of Atlas Invest (former Fin invest), one of the main companies of the Duška Knežević Atlas group. The change occurred after Knežević recently formed an Investment Committee with the aim of improving the group's operations.
She was replaced by Vladimir Čvorović, who is a member of Knežević's Committee.
Knežević's group has been in serious financial problems for a long time, and certain companies and projects are being taken over by business partners before bankruptcy.
Bašović told "Vijesta" that she is currently on vacation, and that the change at the head of Atlas Invest was made within the group.
"There is nothing spectacular there. I held the position of director for a long time. That was all agreed on at the group level," Bašović said briefly.
For years, she was one of Knežević's most trusted people and was privy to the business connections of the controversial company Fiesta Investments LTD registered in Mauritius, which was accused by American investigators two years ago of being a participant in corruption during the privatization of Telekom Crne Gore.
Fiesta Investments, according to data from the central registry, is registered in Port Louis, Republic of Mauritius and is mentioned since April 26, 2007, as the second founder of Attika Land Podgorica. The aforementioned company manages the Budva companies Mogren Garden and Mogren Hill, which in fact represent two large Atlas projects in the hinterland of Mogren Beach.
The first formal founder and director of Attika Land was Brankica Bašović. In the first half of 2007, the offshore firm Fiesta Investments from Mauritius appeared as the second founder of Attika Land. Bašović remained the director of Attika even after the third change of the name of the founder of the same company on December 11, 2007, when Fiesta was replaced by the new company "Ridley Park" Podgorica. Bašović was the executive director of Attika Land until February 7, 2008.
Fiesta Investment Ltd., a few years ago, was involved in mediating the broadcasting of the satellite program of the Television of Montenegro. Broadcasting first cost about 800.000 euros per year, and then about 600.000 euros. At first, that cost was covered by a foreign donation, but then, until the transformation into a public service, that work for TVCG was contracted and paid for by the Government through Fiesta.
Two years ago, the Atlas Group denied any connection with this company, noting that "neither the Atlas Group, nor its owner or any company owned by the Atlas Group, is the owner of the company Fiesta Investments from Mauritius".
A well-informed source of "Vijesti" from the Atlas group claims that it is unlikely that Bašović will speak publicly about Fiesta's affairs, since her daughter, Biljana Bašović, is one of the directors of another company from the Atlas group - Global Carbon. This company was founded by Knežević's other bank, Invest banka Montenegro.
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