Preparations for the technically complicated shutdown of production and disconnection from the electricity grid have not even begun at the Aluminum Plant, only the legal department was given an order to start preparations for writing dismissals to the workers, but they have not been written either, a source from the bankrupt Aluminum Plant told "Vijesta".
The boss of Uniprom, Veselin Pejović, who owns the property of KAP in bankruptcy and manages production until the end of the bankruptcy, told RTCG last night that he will not terminate the working relationship with the employees if by Thursday the government forms a commission that would examine the working conditions of KAP employees. in.
All the facts show that there is no real intention to shut down production in KAP, but that it was only a response to criticism of the violation of workers' rights by members of the ruling majority on the Parliamentary Commission for Privatization Control.
Almost all employees who work within KAP are employed in the bankrupt Aluminum Plant, not in Uniprom, so they could be fired by the bankruptcy trustee Veselin Perišić, who is allegedly unwilling to do so, and not by the owner of Uniprom, Veselin Pejović.
The plants, equipment and land were registered as the property of Uniprom, but the bankruptcy was not completed even after seven and a half years due to several property disputes.
According to the contract with the bankruptcy administration and the Commercial Court from 2014, Uniprom guarantees the continuity of production until the end of the bankruptcy, so shutting down production would be a violation of that contract.
In order to implement the shutdown of KAP, i.e. disconnection from the power grid, Elektroprivreda, the electricity seller, as well as the Montenegrin Electric Transmission System (CGES), through whose network KAP receives electricity as a direct consumer, would have to be notified beforehand.
CGES workers would also have to participate in the procedure of safe shutdown of electricity.
None of the energy companies have been notified of any intention to shut down this giant.
The safe extinguishing procedure itself would take about twenty days, and would entail the gradual extinguishing of each cell individually and the pouring of hot aluminum from them.
Workers who do not accept the interruption of production would have to participate in all this.
Just turning off the power, an emergency shutdown, would cause great damage because the aluminum would cool down and harden in the electrolysis cells, which would no longer be usable, which would cause damage of several tens of millions of euros.
Such a shutdown could cause environmental problems, as well as damage to the electrical transmission system of CGES, which is why it cannot be implemented without that company.
Yesterday, Uniprom did not respond to the questions of "Vijesti" regarding the announcement of layoffs and the shutdown of production, nor did CGES.
The main reason why it is not financially profitable to shut down KAP is the prices on the LME metal exchange.
In recent days, the price of the metal has reached $2.200 per ton, which is the highest figure in the last three years.
In April and May of last year, it fell to 1.400 dollars, which is below the cost price, while the current price guarantees a significant profit.
The Ministry of Economic Development announced yesterday that they are collecting information and taking a detailed look at the new situation in KAP.
"We are surprised by the reaction of the owner of Uniprom and the fact that he intends to close the factory and leave 600 workers without a job. This is especially due to the fact that the company is the beneficiary of significant privileges, such as the reduction of costs based on taxes and income contributions, which is a benefit of the company's operations within the business zone, as well as support for the realization of investments for the construction of a new plant through the Program for Improving the Competitiveness of the Economy" , stated from this department.
They say that the Government does not agree to blackmail, and that they will launch an initiative to review the current law.
KAP has been in bankruptcy since July 2013, and since then workers have no right to annual leave, benefited working experience or systematic medical examinations.
The position of Uniprom and the bankruptcy administration is that workers do not have labor rights during bankruptcy, while members of the commission from the new ruling majority believed the opposite and announced changes to the Law on Strikes that would define this.
From the Union of Free Trade Unions (USS), she appealed to competent institutions to protect KAP employees from pressure and enable them to exercise their basic labor and trade union rights, which, as they said, are guaranteed by international regulations, the Constitution and national labor legislation.
Part of the KAP workers, who support Uniprom, yesterday at the end of the shift around 15 pm, they briefly organized a blockade of the main road near KAP with the message that the government should talk to Pejović and prevent the company from shutting down.
Uniprom also said at the Commission session that they sent a letter to the Ministry of Economic Development in January, but did not receive a response.
The Workers' Party, whose president Maksim Vučinić chairs the Commission, announced that yesterday Pejović pressured employees to sign a document "according to which the working conditions at KAP are more than ideal, or else they will be fired."
They stated that the session of the Commission was organized in order to listen to both sides and find the best solution.
Warrant arrests underway?
The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) is preparing an order to conduct an investigation into the decisions of the former government - to issue guarantees for the loan of the Aluminum Plant in Podgorica without valid coverage, which caused damage of a total of 150 million euros, Television Vijesti announced.
Their interlocutors claim that concrete results of the reconnaissance actions - the arrest of the suspects - can be expected soon.
"Due to the suspicion that they committed a criminal offense in an organized manner - abuse of official position for an extended period of time, the former heads of the ministries of economy and finance will appear before the SDT, in the period from 2009 until the introduction of bankruptcy, i.e. mid-2013".
They also announced that, in addition to them, the order will cover the members of the government's Commission for Monitoring and Control of State Aid, as well as the Central European Aluminum Company, which in July 2005 was an offshore company from Cyprus "Salamon Enterprises" for 48,5 million euros became the majority owner of KAP.
The local public found out years later that the most important company in the country was sold to Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska with a capital of 1,7 thousand euros.
Since KAP received guarantees from the Government, the prosecution began to investigate in 2014, based on the report of the State Audit Institution published in 2013.
The auditors then established that no risk assessment was done before approving the issuance of guarantees to KAP.
Analysis of the Settlement Agreement from 2009 found that the Government, by providing state guarantees... assumed a significant risk of their activation.
The damage due to the guarantees given to KAP was borne by taxpayers and amounted to 137 million euros...
With the accrued interest, the debt grew to 150 million.
Because of this, the state paid about 127 million euros for loans from Deutsche, OTP and the Russian VT bank, and later because of this they introduced taxes on SIM cards, froze pensions, introduced a crisis tax, and increased the value added tax.
Due to the guarantees issued for KAP, in May 2011 the MPs of the Movement for Change filed criminal charges against the former prime minister and current president of the state Milo Đukanović and seven other persons - Oleg Deripaska, Branimir Gvozdenović, Branko Vujović, Mihailo Banjević, Vječeslav Krilov, Vujica Lazović and Anđelka Lojpura.
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