Mrdović: VE Možura will not become state-owned?

Legal adviser at the NGO Action for Social Justice, Ines Mrdović, said that the Energy Regulatory Agency (RAE) announced that it is not competent to determine how much money the foreign partner invested in the construction of the Možura Wind Power Plant, even though the real value of the investment is it directly depends on whether that VE will ever become the property of the State of Montenegro, or not.

"The owner of the wind farm is the Podgorica company "Možura Wind Park", which is backed by foreign capital. The contract for the lease of land and the construction of the Možura wind farm was concluded for 20 years, as long as the foreign partner has the right to use it, after which he will be able to request an extension of the lease. if the period of returning the money invested in its construction is longer than the first 12 years of operation of the VE," said Mrdović.

He adds that in the Business Plan, which "Možura Wind Park" submitted to the RAE in order to obtain a license for electricity production, the investment return year is stated as the 13th year from the start of the operation of the VE, which means that the Government's partner is already pleading for an extension of the deadline lease.

"At the beginning of this month, the non-governmental organization Action for Social Justice (ASP) sent an initiative to the RAE, in which it indicates that in one place it was stated in the Business Plan that 83,3 million had been invested, and in another 86,6 million, and in relation to that the rate of return on invested money (for 13 years) is projected to the figure. ASP also states that the document does not contain any precise data on the cost of wind generators and other equipment, as well as other investment costs, and that projections of income and expenses for the next few years are given. , without many details, the ASP in the RAE initiative notes that the Možura VE project is under strong suspicions of corrupt activities and is the subject of investigations by competent authorities of several countries."

Mrdović also said that it is also indicated that it is of crucial importance that the RAE already determines the real value of the investment in order to protect the interests of the State of Montenegro, which would have the right to initiate an option by which it could acquire ownership of the VE after the expiry of the lease agreement.

"In RAE's response, it is said that the amount of 83,3 million is stated in the Mission section, which speaks "more descriptively" about the role of the company and is not considered a source of data, that business projections for the next three years are relevant for issuing a license. and that it is the Government of Montenegro that will decide on the eventual extension of the lease. The RAE emphasizes that its competence is to assess the fulfillment of the conditions for obtaining a license, as well as that "it cannot in any way influence the determination of the real value of the VE". The provision on the extension of the lease, if is the return of the investment longer than 12 years of work, it is indisputably privileging the Government partner and harmful to the interest of the State. The contract stipulates that a report on the value of the investment, after the end of the lease, will be prepared by one of the auditors chosen by agreement - Deloitte, Pricewater House Coopers, KPMG or HLB International. If the agreement is not reached, the auditor will be KPMG," said Mrdović.

Bearing in mind the huge passage of time until then, and especially the potential danger of the destruction of documentation in the case, which has already taken on the contours of an international corruption affair, Mrdović says that it is very important that the exact value of VE Možur be known unequivocally now, so that in state institutions they had to be aware of that.

"Finally, we note that in the first 12 years, the contract guarantees a fixed selling price of electricity produced from it of at least 95,99 euros per megawatt. This is significantly more expensive than the market price of electricity. In the first 12 years, the foreign partner is also exempted from paying system - auxiliary services, which directly damaged the state-owned company Crnogorski elektroprenosni sistem. The contract is one of a series of government contracts, which does not have an anti-corruption clause," Mrdović concluded.