The Committee for Monitoring and Control of the Privatization Procedure did not adopt the text of the conclusions on the privatization of Jugopetrol today, because all seven representatives of the parliamentary majority were in favor of the conclusions, while all seven members of the opposition abstained.
In this Commission, seven members each have representatives of the majority and the opposition, unlike other parliamentary bodies.
The proposal of Conclusions, read by President Maksim Vučinić, was that the Commission assessed the privatization as acceptable in terms of payment of obligations to the state and provision of services to citizens, but a number of irregularities and disputed points of privatization were noted.
It was stated that this was the last company that needed to be privatized, that it was bought by the Hellenic Petroleum company owned by another state, and that Montenegro thus lost control over the purchase price of oil derivatives.
"We point to the incomplete or partial fulfillment of obligations in the part of the investment and social program from 2003 to 2007, which was the most important for control and monitoring, as well as the reaction of the competent authorities from the executive power, which was absent and without submitting to responsibility. The Commission indicates that this should let it be a lesson to us, because sometimes a short-term gain is a long-term loss. What the public must know are the names of the participants who designed and implemented the privatization of Jugopetrol, which represents a kind of act of lustration that will allow citizens to see and address the failures of the privatization process ", it was stated in the proposed conclusions.
Andrija Popović against but abstained
All five members of the DPS abstained from the conclusion, as well as members of the Liberal Party Andrija Popović and Force Genci Nimanbegu.
Andrija Popović said that he is against this privatization, that he believes that it must have been a big mistake, but that he cannot vote for the conclusions because it drives investors out of the state.
"What hurts me as a resident of Kotor and Bokelje is that the huge damage was done to Kotor due to the relocation of the company to Podgorica. This was not included in the contract and had to be prevented at all costs. This should be a lesson for us for the future. I cannot vote for because of the government's relationship with foreign investors. Aman Resorts left, and the same is being prepared in Porto Montenegro because of the inadequate relationship of the local government," Popović said.
Democrat MP Zdenka Popović reminded that the representatives of the previous government said that they were not selling companies but buying investors and asked them to list ten credible investors who are still in Montenegro.
"I don't count those from offshore destinations as credible, whose owners are unknown, that is, whether there are any of our tycoons among them. You privatized the most important companies, where did that money go, not a single new one was created," said Popović.
DPS MP Predrag Sekulić said that in this privatization money was obtained that was higher than the estimated value of the state capital. He stated that after the fall of communism, privatization had to be started, that Montenegro was one of the poorest republics of the former Yugoslavia, and that the country had to develop rapidly after the wars of the 90s.
Jelušić: Those responsible for privatization must at least be named
Member of the URA, Božana Jelušić, said that the State of Montenegro did not want to have its own oil company, explaining that the state should not deal with it, so it sold to the state company of Greece.
"The people who decided on this deserve to at least be named now. Who designed it and who did it to Montenegro and Kotor must be known, and that person now must at least be ashamed," said Jelušić.
DPS MP Petar Ivanović said that the privatization process was transparent, that there were several participants, that a court case was conducted against those who participated in that privatization and that the indictment was dismissed.
Marko Milačić from Prava Montenegro proposed that the conclusion include the hearing of Veselin Vukotić, the vice-president of the Council for Privatization, and as he said, the guru of the economic policy of that time and of such privatizations, and others involved.
DF MP Dragan Bojović said that hearing Vukotić might be effective at the Anti-Corruption Committee, "given that he was the creator of those privatizations and to explain what happened in them".
What would Vukotić get in Austria?
Ivanovic said that Vukotić is receiving a lifetime achievement award in Austria today, and "that you want to listen to him".
"If he had done privatization with them, who knows what he would have gotten," said Milacic.
The commission unanimously adopted the proposal to discuss the privatization of Solana at the next session.
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