Millions taken from Ulcinja ended up in the bankruptcy fund of Atlas Bank

The millions that the Budva company "Rekreaturs" forcibly collected from the Municipality of Ulcinj, which was blocked for four months last year and then sold the plot of 8.000 square meters and took a new loan of two million euros, will end up in the bankruptcy estate of Atlas Bank.

The former company from Duško Knežević's group "Rekreaturs" from Budva, which has been owned by the bankrupt Atlas Bank since April last year, forcibly collected 6,3 million euros from the Municipality of Ulcinj, after last year's final verdict in the dispute, which has been ongoing since 1983. .

In the 2019 business report, which it submitted to the Tax Administration, the company reported that it made a net profit of 4.949.550 euros that year. The company had business expenses of 900 euros, and paid a profit tax of 455.

Until February of this year, the director of the company was Vlatko Rašović, Knežević's former driver and now an associate witness of the special prosecution against his former employer, and then Saša Kovačević became the director.

"Vijesti" asked the bankrupt Atlas bank - who now manages this company, who appointed Kovačević and whether the profit of this company from 2019 will be the income of the bankrupt Atalas banka, that is, become part of the bankruptcy estate.

"Atlas banka AD Podgorica in bankruptcy is the owner of 99,71% of the capital of "Rekreaturs DOO", which was registered in 2011. The last status change of the Company was registered with the CRPS on February 19, 02, when a new executive director was appointed, in accordance with the decision of the owner of the company. "Atlas banka AD Podgorica in bankruptcy will decide on the distribution of profits in accordance with the regulations", it was stated in the answer.

The remaining 0,3 percent of the company is managed by the hotel and tourist company "Atlas hotels group" from Bar, where the largest single owner is Zetagradnja from Podgorica.

Disputed relocation of the company

"Rekreaturs" is a former company from Pristina that was moved to Budva during the war in 1999 under unclear circumstances. It was bought by the Atlas Group in 2002 for 60 euros. The new "Rekreaturs" managed to register the former workers' resort of the company from Pristina on Kamenovo near Budva with 33 thousand square meters of land right on the beach.

In 2003, the Budva "Rekreaturs" sued the Municipality of Ulcinj for the demolition of the camp of the then Pristina "Rekreaturs" in 1983 on Velika plaža.

The blocking of the account of the Municipality of Ulcinj followed after the Supreme Court in March of last year confirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal in favor of the company "Rekreaturs".

MP for Force from Ulcinj and member of the ruling coalition Genci Nimanbegu recently stated that "Rekreaturs" from Budva falsely presented itself as the legal heir of the company of the same name from Pristina, in order to take over a valuable real estate on Kamenova and collect money from Ulcinj for a dispute from 37 years ago.

"'Rekreaturs' was then a self-governing interest community for rest and recreation of Kosovo workers. In Montenegro, it was registered in a completely disputed procedure, since the registration was done by several workers of that company who fled to Montenegro in 1999," said Nimanbegu.

He stated that the Privatization Agency from Kosovo is conducting proceedings before the Court in Kotor to challenge its legitimacy.

He also said that the demolition in 1983 was not carried out by the Municipality of Ulcinj, but by the then Republican Committee for Urban Planning. However, the courts of Montenegro decided otherwise.

The municipality gave a plot and took a loan for debokada

The municipality's account was blocked for four months last year, during which it was charged about one and a half million euros for the lawsuit and expenses. The work of local self-government during that period was paralyzed, and 186 municipal administration workers and about 50 employees in public institutions did not receive their salaries.

In an attempt to unblock the giro account and avoid collapse, the Municipality of Ulcinj transferred to the Government about eight thousand square meters of attractive land between the former "Galeb" and "Albatros" hotels. The government paid three million euros to the Municipality for that plot, and the banks guaranteed a loan of two million euros that the municipal government took and thus unblocked the account.

Rašović was one of the drivers of the Atlas group who in 2016 participated in the exchange of around 100 thousand dollars for euros, and that money ended up with the then mayor of Podgorica, Slavoljub Stijepović.

The drivers were arrested at the end of September 2017, and the Prosecutor's Office then first announced that the money was intended for the illegal financing of the Democratic Front.

Knežević later published a video showing Stijepović receiving the envelope with the money to finance the DPS campaign. That party later admitted that it had received half of that amount. Rašović then became a cooperating witness against Knežević, who in the "E komerc" case is suspected of creating a criminal organization, money laundering and tax evasion. Proceedings for his extradition are being conducted before the judicial authorities in London, and the hearing has been postponed to September.

Will they sell the property?

The bankruptcy administration of Atlas Bank did not precisely answer the other questions of "Vijesti" - whether they plan to sell "Rekreaturs" or its property, the plot on Kamenova, how much money has been collected since the introduction of bankruptcy and how much has been paid, and what is happening with by selling the remaining assets of Atlas banka.

"The bankruptcy administration undertakes all necessary actions regarding the monetization of the entire property of Atlas banka AD Podgorica in bankruptcy and the settlement of obligations to its creditors. Since the introduction of bankruptcy, EUR 29 million, or 33% of the total determined liability of Atlas banka AD Podgorica in bankruptcy to the FZD, has been transferred to the Deposit Protection Fund. The sale, i.e. monetization, of assets is realized in the scope and dynamics determined by the circumstances on the market", it was stated in the answer of the bankrupt Atlas Bank.