Montenegro does not send a bad signal to investors when it expects them to respect laws and pay taxes, and Elektroprivreda is not threatened by this, but by the behavior of the management that allowed the debt of Kombinat aluminum to reach 61 million euros.
This is the message of the member of the parliamentary Committee for Economy, Finance and Budget, SDP MP Damir Šehović, regarding the position from EPCG.
"SDP does not send a bad signal to investors because it asks them to pay taxes properly, but some investors send a bad signal to the state when they demand that the debt for electricity that CEAC spent in KAP, which amounts to 61 million, be paid by the citizens of Montenegro ", Šehović assessed in a statement to "Vijesta".
He said that the survival of EPCG is not threatened by the fact that it is expected to settle tax obligations in accordance with the law, but the opposite is true.
"Its business is endangered by the behavior of its own management, which allowed KAP's debt of 61 million to arise", assessed Šehović.
Elektroprivreda, whose management is in the hands of the Italian company A2A, announced the day before yesterday that EPCG's claims from KAP should be honored as soon as possible, as defined by the government, so that EPCG's survival would not be called into question. The management of the company, which is majority owned by the state, emphasized that failure to resolve the issue would be a negative signal for foreign companies that have identified potential projects for investment.
"The taxpayers of Montenegro are not to blame for the fact that the management of EPCG did not implement the decisions of the Board of Directors, which in the previous period, while the Russian CEAC was piling up unpaid debt for electricity, called on them on several occasions to protect the interests of the company they manage," said Šehović.
The power company called for compliance with the conclusions of the Assembly, among which is the maintenance of production at KAP.
Management to prepare "to account"
"It is interesting that the management of EPCG refers to parliamentary conclusions that the Government itself did not respect, and at the same time does not give an explanation why it did not implement the decisions of its own Board of Directors. They forget that disobeying those decisions can be the basis for individual responsibilities in the management itself," Šehović pointed out.
That is why, instead of lamenting the European future of Montenegro, adds the SDP deputy, "we recommend such management to prepare to account for their actions at the shareholders' assemblies of EPCG and A2A".
"At the same time, we suggest to them that they do not do this by falsifying the financial reports of the company they manage, and by omitting the tax debt to the state, which as far as the SDP is concerned, they must pay within a reasonable time", said Šehović.
The members of the Government from DPS are calling for the fact that investors would "run away" if the debt settlement between EPCG and KAP does not go through to the detriment of the state budget. In the rebalancing proposal, which will be decided at the end of July, it is urged that this is necessary in order not to jeopardize projects in the energy sector.
The opposition and the SDP have publicly promised that they will not support the Government's proposal on budget changes, which envisage that the debt of aluminum and energy companies be offset to the detriment of the state coffers. In addition, it is also disputed that the Government seeks to continue subsidizing KAP through the new supply contract, which is prohibited by the Agreement between Montenegro and Brussels on the way to the EU.
"The burden of the wrong business policy that the management of EPCG has been leading for the past two years should not be placed on the citizens, but on those who led such a policy in EPCG. This is exactly why the budget rebalancing in the form in which it was proposed is unacceptable for the SDP. We don't want the burden of KAP's debt for electricity, which is equal to the entire capital budget of the state, to fall on the backs of taxpayers," said Šehović.
SNP: The postponement of the session on rebalancing leads to the agreement of DPS and SDP
SNP "Vijesta" unofficially announced yesterday that they will not submit amendments to the Government's budget rebalancing proposal.
"We are convinced that the postponement of the announced session for July 17, at which the rebalancing was supposed to be considered, leads to an agreement between SDP and DPS on this matter, as it has always been until now. With the fact that there will be many other things in the political trade, the outcome of which is expected by the end of July", was the answer from the SNP, which reiterated that it would not support the rebalancing.
Parliament President Ranko Krivokapić and Prime Minister Milo Đukanović agreed that the proposed budget changes for this year will be considered on July 30 or 31. At that session, there will be constitutional changes, changes to the Criminal Code and the results of the work of the Inquiry Committee regarding the "Snimak" affair.
A special session dedicated to the prime minister's hour is also expected by the end of the month.
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