The Commercial Court ruled that the company "Jackpot", whose owners are Branislav Brano Mićunović i Sava Džigi Grbović, can continue organizing games of chance in the casino at the "Falkeinstener" hotel in Bečići, even though its concession has expired.
The concession contract was concluded in December 2005 for a period of ten years, and then in 2016 it was extended for an additional five years. In the meantime, that deadline was extended for the duration of the interruption of work and suspension of the concession due to epidemiological measures, so that the final concession expired on February 18. The Law on Concessions provides that the concession can be extended for a maximum of half of the period for which it was issued, after which a completely new procedure for issuing the concession is initiated.
A legal game to avoid the obligation of two million euros
In the case of issuing a new concession, according to the Law on Games of Chance, a one-time fee of two million euros is paid to casinos. The Commercial Court, in a decision made on the same day that the concession expires, February 18, ordered that the Revenue and Customs Administration - Sector for games of chance cannot terminate the concessionaire's concession period until a legally binding decision has been made as to whether the concession has expired.
The Ministry of Finance has prepared a proposal for the Law on Games of Chance, which abolishes this one-time concession of two million euros. So, if this bill were to be adopted, while waiting for a judicial decision that would state that the concession has expired, "Jackpot" could request a new concession without paying a fee, and the state would be left without two million euros of its income.
Casino "Maestral" was in the same situation three years ago, because its concession extension of five years expired, but they duly paid two million euros to the state for a new concession.
According to the data from the decision of the Commercial Court, on October 1 last year, "Jackpot" submitted a request to the Gaming Sector for the "grant of the right/extension of the concession" to organize games of chance in this casino, even though the contract it had signed until then it is clear that his concession expires on February 18 and that it cannot be extended, that is, that he can be issued a new one if he pays a fee of two million euros.
After that request, according to "Vijesti" information, they asked the Gaming Sector to clarify whether the request refers to the extension or issuance of a new concession. "Jack Pot" subsequently declared that it was requesting a new extension of the existing concession, without paying a fee.
Ćetković brings a solution, Petričević does not send it to the Government
Acting Assistant Director of the Revenue and Customs Administration for the Games of Chance Sector Andrija Ćetković, according to the information of "Vijesti", after that he wrote a decision rejecting the request of "Jackpot" for a new extension of the concession because they already used that right once in 2016, so by law they have no right to a second extension.
Ćetković submitted his decision with an explanation to the acting director of the Revenue and Customs Administration Milena Petričević, so that she would forward it to the relevant Ministry of Finance, and they would forward it to the Government, which would state the termination of the concession, which would end the legal game. However, according to "Vijesti" information, Petričević did not forward the decision to the Ministry.
Ćetković, using the previous authority to independently sign acts under his jurisdiction, sent the decision to the Minister of Finance and Social Welfare Milojko Spajić, as the Government would state it. However, Spajić does not send the case to the Government. According to "Vijesti" information, Petričević is in the meantime initiating disciplinary proceedings against Ćetković because he sent the letter about the expiry of the concession to the Ministry without its knowledge.
The Commercial Court decides in one day
As he did not receive an official answer about the termination of the concession, "Jackpot" submitted a request to the Commercial Court for a temporary measure to allow him to continue working even after the expiration of the concession. Judge of the Commercial Court Blazo Jovanić, who is also the president of that court, the very next day passes a decision by which he forbids the Revenue and Customs Administration - the Sector for Games of Chance to "impede the smooth continuation of the right to carry out activities" in this casino. In the explanation, the reason for this decision is that "Jackpot" has not officially received an official response even four months and 17 days after the request was submitted.
Jovanić states that "Jackpot" should file a lawsuit against the state of Montenegro within 15 days in order to justify the temporary measure, that is, to ascertain whether its concession has expired. Also, it was decided that "Jackpot" should pay a guarantee of 35.000 euros as a deposit to the Commercial Court because it was estimated that the damage to the state could amount to that much if the concessionaire is not right about the concession.
They could not answer the questions
Yesterday morning, "Vijesti" sent questions about this case to the Revenue and Customs Administration, in which they asked for an answer on whether the concession for this casino had expired, whether the organizer had applied for a new concession and whether he had paid the expected amount of two million euros for the issuance of a new concession, or he requested that the right to organize be extended without paying this concession fee. They also asked whether Ćetković refused the "Jackpot" request and whether his decision was forwarded to the Ministry of Finance - the Government, whether the Commercial Court passed a temporary measure in favor of this organizer, whether it is against Ćetković and several other officials in this proceeding initiated disciplinary proceedings, as well as what will be the further procedures of the Revenue and Customs Administration in this case.
After the questions were sent, director Petričević asked the journalist to postpone writing the text and wait with the answers until Monday. After it was answered that the decision of the Commercial Court has become final and is public, a reply was sent to the e-mail from her office in which it is proposed to answer the questions asked of Ćetković. However, he told "Vijesta" that he answered the questions, but that he does not have the authority of the director to forward them to the media until she approves them.
Even in 2015, they did not pay the obligation of two million euros, as a result of which three management directors were dismissed
If "Jack Pot" now avoids paying a fee of two million euros, it will be the second time that he has succeeded with legal gymnastics and the support of state institutions, and if Ćetković is dismissed, he will be the fourth official who has been punished in this way. he tried to collect money belonging to the state budget from Mićunović and Grbović.
In 2015, the Ministry of Finance made a unique decision in the previous legal system, which suspended the procedure for determining the obligation to pay this fee for their casino in the "Splendid" hotel. Previously, such an obligation was established by the Administration for Games of Chance in several renewed procedures.
It was precisely because of this dispute that "Jackpot" and their Association of Organizers of Games of Chance UPIS demanded dismissals and led media campaigns against the two acting directors of the Administration for Games of Chance who demanded the collection of this fee - Aleksandar Moštrokol, with whom they signed the concession agreement, and his successor Marko Ćulafić. Both were later replaced.
The decision waiving the determination of this obligation was made when Radoje Žugić was the Minister of Finance, but it was signed by his assistant Novo Radović. The decision was made a few days before the new acting director, Dr. Ilija Vukčević, took the helm of the Gaming Authority.
And Vukčević soon established the privileged positions of the "Jackpot" and their second organizer, the Lottery of Montenegro, in multimillion-dollar amounts. Soon, the UPIS media campaign started against him, and the Government did not elect him for a new mandate.
Bonus video:
