The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) is investigating whether the former leaders of "Plantaža" damaged that state-owned company for several million euros, in the case of the failed briquette factory.
SDT formed the case after the new management filed a criminal complaint against the former chairman of the Board of Directors Veselin Vukotić, former executive director Verice Maraš, former member of the board of directors Boža Mihailović and former director of the Legal and General Affairs Sector Miroslav Vuković, due to suspicions that in that case, acting organized as members of a criminal group, by exploiting and abusing their position, they obtained multimillion-dollar illegal property benefits for the private company "OMP Engineering", to the detriment of "Plantaža".
The application states that Vukotić is the organizer of the criminal group, who gave suggestions, orders and instructions to other members on how to present the state of the disputed relationship between "Plantaž" and "OMP Engineering", in order to influence the conclusion of the disputed settlement agreement.
Verica Maraš was reported that, acting on the orders of Vukotić, together with Vuković and Mihailović, she prepared a report that should confirm the justification of concluding a settlement agreement, as well as that she formed a commission that was formally supposed to write that report. In the criminal complaint, it was stated that at the meetings of the board of directors, she provided incorrect information that "Plantaže" invested 450.000 euros in the joint briquette factory, and "OMP Engineering" 1,12 million, although as the executive director of "Plantaže" and the president of the Board of Directors " Plant OMP" knew that the state company's investments were significantly higher.
The expert of the financial profession in the proceedings conducted at the time established that the total investment of "Plantaža" in the joint company amounted to 1.467.029,02 euros, while the contribution of "OMP Engineering" was 1.278,674,47 euros.
Mihailovic is said to have acted according to the orders of Vukotić, that is, at the meetings of the Board of Directors, he takes the position that the settlement is a good deal for "Plantaže", and that, with his authority, as a respected and recognized economist, he reinforces the validity of conclusions that were not even made by the committee at the meetings of the commission. already four registered.
"Vijesti" contacted four former officials on phone numbers known to the newsroom, but they only received an answer from Vuković. He said that he does not want to comment on cases that are in the stage of prosecutorial investigations.
Verica Maraš previously claimed in several statements to the media that no damage was done to the company in the case of the briquette factory.
The new management of "Plantaža" submitted an application at the end of February this year, so that on April 21st they would submit an emergency report to SDT in order to find out what has been done in the meantime.
According to the documentation that "Vijesti" had access to, the SDT replied to them on May 4 that they were "undertaking actions within their jurisdiction in order to collect evidence and data necessary for making a decision in the criminal-legal matter in question."
He was elected as the new special state prosecutor at the end of March Vladimir Novović.
THE FACTORY ONLY WORKED AT THE OPENING
In 2009, ”Plantaže” announced a public invitation in which they were looking for a partner for the briquette factory. "OMP Engineering" responded, which they founded three days after the announcement of the invitation Oleg Obradovic, Miodrag Ivanovic i Predrag Boskovic, who later went out of business.
In July 2011, the ceremonial opening of the factory was organized and only then did the machines "produce" briquettes in front of the cameras. In 2014, "OMP Engineering" initiated a lawsuit against "Plantaž", allegedly because they did not provide enough raw materials - pruned vine branches, for the production of briquettes.
"Plantations" then launched a counterclaim, and that consolidated action lasted until the signing of the disputed settlement agreement in 2020.
THEY MISLED MEMBERS OF THE BOARD AND THE COMMISSION
In the application, it is stated that the four then officials of "Plantaž" misled the Board of Directors and commission members by misrepresenting the facts from the procedure, on which the decision to conclude the disputed settlement agreement depended, by which "Plantaž" was obliged to pay the company "OMP Engineering" 350.000 thousand euros and transferred to them the ownership of 37.000 square meters of land in Donji Kokoti.
In turn, "OMP Engineering" transferred to "Plantaže" 50 percent of the share in the joint company "Plant OMP", which never worked or generated income.
They proposed this kind of settlement even though there was an ongoing litigation before the Commercial Court in Podgorica between the two companies for compensation of damages according to the lawsuit and counterclaim, in which all the evidence and statements of experts were in favor of "Plantaž", which indicated the probability of winning the dispute.
This, as written in the application, caused double damage to "Plantaž" because instead of receiving compensation from "OMP Engineering", estimated by an expert at 1,6 million euros, it paid about 1,4 million euros to a private company in money and property.
VUKOVIĆ, THE ONLY LAWYER IN THE COMMISSION
Vuković, as stated in the application, managed the legal procedure on Vukotić's orders and, as is suspected, maintained contact with the representatives of "OMP Engineering" - Obradović and Ivanović.
According to the application, Vuković himself chose the members of the commission, which was supposed to consider the legal and business validity of the settlement agreement. He was the only lawyer in the commission, whose composition was formally verified by Verica Maraš.
Vuković allegedly said at the sessions of the commission and the Board of Directors that the disputed contract is legally perfect for "Plantaže", that he seriously evaluated the outcome of the court case and that he is ready to answer for the disputed work under full moral, material and criminal responsibility.
In the report, a part of the interview that Vuković gave to Pobjeda in July 2021, then as executive director, was quoted. He stated that the former partner should not be given more responsibility for the failure of the investment than he deserves, and that the main reason why the briquette factory failed was inadequate and non-existent raw material base.
Expert in the agricultural profession Rade Mijović in his findings, he established that the quantity of raw materials for the production of briquettes at the disposal of "Plantaže" is 11,2 million kilograms, that is, that the raw materials were more than enough.
Expert in the mechanical profession Goran Dedic he determined that the factory cannot produce briquettes, because there is a problem with the mill for coarse shredding, as well as the lack of machines for technological operations on the line in question. According to the contract, the procurement of quality equipment was the obligation of the company "OMP Engineering".
The new management of the company refused to act according to the disputed settlement agreement, which is why "OMP Engineering" blocked the account of "Plantaž" in December in the amount of 350.000 euros, and has the right to initiate court proceedings for the collection of the second part of about 1,1 million euros, which is the estimated value of the land in Donji Kokoti.
The report also states that the new management of "Plantaža" therefore expects SDT to take measures within its jurisdiction as soon as possible, in order to prevent further adverse consequences for the company.
Vukotić is the creator of the so-called Montenegrin neoliberal concept, he served as vice president of the Privatization Council and one of the founders of the private University "Donja Gorica", together with, among others, Milo Đukanović.
Verica Maraš is a member of the Main Board of DPS, and Mihailović is a professor at the Faculty of Economics.
Vuković was employed in "Plantaže" for many years as a lawyer, and later as a manager of that sector. He is a member of the Communist Party.
Rejected a legal opinion in their favor, listened to the opposing side's lawyer
In the court case, "Plantaže" was represented by lawyers Ana Đukanović and Marko Hajduković, but they canceled their power of attorney after the conclusion of the settlement agreement, with the explanation that they were not consulted, and that the company should have won the dispute.
"The conclusion of such a settlement is even more surprising and worrying given the fact that the findings and opinions of experts in the mechanical, economic and agricultural professions, as well as the statements of your management and your employees, were entirely in favor of Plantaž", stated Đukanović and Hajduković at the time.
The then management of "Plantaž" did not engage any other attorney's office or legal advisor who would analyze the dispute and give a recommendation whether to accept the settlement or continue the dispute, but everything came down to the assessment of Vuković and the views of the other three from the management.
At the sessions, Vuković was against obtaining a second legal opinion, while the opinion of the law office representing the opposite side was obtained.
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