The court proceedings in the Commercial Court between the state wine production company "Plantaže" and its former business partner "OMP Engineering" in connection with the collapse of the briquette factory that was started in 2014 will be conducted from scratch due to the change of the acting judge.
This case was in the hands of the judge Danijela Vukčević which went to the Court of Appeal, and is now assigned to a new judge Marija Adžić.
"Plantaže" and "OMP Engineering" reached an out-of-court settlement that was not implemented as evidence in the court proceedings, so the hearing was postponed yesterday in the Commercial Court so that the court could assess the impact of the settlement on the ongoing court proceedings. In addition, it is also necessary for the plaintiff "OMP Engineering" to declare itself on the issue of settlement within the framework of this court proceeding.
Based on the settlement agreement, "Plantaže" was supposed to pay "OMP Engineering" 350 euros, as well as cede a plot of 37 square meters in Donji Kokoti, valued at 1,3 million euros. "Plantaže" was supposed to get full ownership of the company "Plant OMP", which is responsible only for the built hangar.
The dispute was initiated in 2014 when "OMP Engeneering" sued "Plantaže" seeking compensation for damages for the investment in the joint venture "Plant OMP", which was supposed to produce briquettes (energy) from vines. "Plantaže" filed a counterclaim on the same basis.
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Public executor Aleksandar Boskovic issued a decision in 2021 according to which "Plantaže" is obliged to pay 350 thousand euros to "OMP Engineering" based on the settlement agreement. "Plantaž" objected to that decision, stating, among other things, that it was illegal and unfounded, pointing out that the settlement agreement never entered into force, and that "OMP Engineering" did not transfer its share in the company "Plant OMP" at them. This objection of "Plantaža" was accepted by the Commercial Court at the end of October last year.
The disputed settlement agreement is being dealt with by the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), which has completed the investigation in the case against the accused former members of the board of directors and the former executive director of "Plantaža", so it is expected that the indictment will soon be submitted for control to the Special Division of the High Court in Podgorica .
The investigation of fraud in "Plantaže" started after the new management filed a criminal complaint with the SDT, claiming that the former members of the board of directors, by abusing their position in business operations, obtained illegal financial benefits for others and caused damage to the company.
SDT previously unofficially said that they had proposed and then adopted the harmful settlement by the majority of the then Board of Directors of "Plantaž", even though there was a litigation proceeding before the Commercial Court between the two companies for compensation of damages according to the claim and counterclaim, in which all evidence and statements of experts were in favor of the state company.
During the earlier litigation before the Commercial Court, the experts stated that the value of the money and land transferred to the company "OMP Engeneering" amounted to at least 1,4 million euros in damage to the state-owned company. According to experts, "Plantaže" should have received compensation of around 3,5 million euros, but they agreed to compensate the opposite party with 1,4 million. The value of the ceded salary, estimated at a little over a million euros at the time, is also questionable.
On July 11, 2022, officers of the Special Police Department, by order of the SDT, arrested the former members of the board of directors. Veselin Vukotić, Boža Mihailović, Djordje Rajković, Sead Shahman, Duško Perović i Anica Hajduković.
Hajduković was released on the same day, and the SDT later suspended the investigation against her, while Vukotić, Mihailović, Rajković, Šahman and Perović were in the Investigation Prison in Spuz for months.
On August 25, SDT expanded the investigation during which the former executive director was arrested Verica Marash due to the suspicion that she abused her position in business operations, i.e. that she caused damage to "Plantaža" of around five million euros.
Lawyer of "OMP Engineering" Nikola Martinovic yesterday, he asked the court to limit the subject of the dispute with "Plantaže" only to the part concerning the settlement agreement, considering that with its conclusion, the litigation was terminated, that is, the subject of the dispute between the two parties was resolved.
On the other hand, the lawyer of "Plantaža" Komnenić said that it is not clear whether Martinović demands the modification of the initial claim or specifies it. He said that the out-of-court settlement was not read in the proceedings, so he believed that according to the law, the court must decide after Martinović's statement whether the records of the hearing of witnesses and legal representatives will be read or not, and only then deal with the issue of settlement.
He pointed out that, according to the decision of the Commercial Court, the settlement referred to by Martinović did not enter into force and that the outcome of the investigation conducted by the SDT in connection with that contract may have an impact on its legal validity. Komnenic stated that after the end of that investigation, he will declare whether he will request the termination of this procedure until the end of the criminal procedure, bearing in mind that the outcome may lead to the nullity of the settlement.
Martinović then said that Komnenić is making a mistake in the logic of the litigation process, because, as he stated, it is not necessary to conduct evidence "from a lawsuit that does not exist", but that a settlement should be conducted as evidence.
"When the court takes that settlement as evidence, then it can decide to take another piece of evidence," said Martinović.
He also announced that the criminal proceedings led by SDT have nothing to do with "OMP Engineering", but that it is a matter of "Plantaž", and that its outcome would not affect this litigation.
Komnenic then said that the Law on Civil Procedure does not recognize the term "extinguished litigation" and stated that one can only plead to the initial claim, until the other party is determined according to it.
"If the lawsuit had been closed, we don't know what we would be doing here today," Komnenic said.
Komnenić proposed to the court to ask SDT for confirmation that the order should be issued on the conduct of the investigation refers to the settlement referred to by the lawyer of "OMP Engeneering".
Martinović then said that it was not about changing the claim, but about its reduction, which resulted from the mutually concluded contract, stating that "Plantaže" did not fulfill their obligations from that deal.
Komnenic then concluded that this was a modification of the lawsuit, which he opposed and pointed out that the agreement in question was concluded before a notary in the form of an executive document, that "OMP Engineering" tried to collect it, but that the judge of the Commercial Court suspended that procedure.
The next hearing is scheduled for April, and the court will obtain the registration documents for "OMP Engineering" by then.
"OMP" invested in equipment that could not be used
The briquette factory "Plant-OMP" was officially opened in July 2011, but it did not work, which was followed by a court case. The owners of "OMP-Engeneering" are Oleg Obradovic i Miodrag Ivanovic, and among the founders was a former minister and member of the DPS Predrag Boskovic, who left the job earlier.
Obradović, Ivanović and Bošković initially demanded compensation of six million euros, claiming that "Plantaže" offered low-quality vines and in insufficient quantities, while this state-owned company subsequently launched a counterclaim claiming that "OMP Engineering" installed equipment in the joint factory that was not suitable for grapevine processing.
During the proceedings in the Commercial Court, an expert in the mechanical profession Goran Dedic made a finding in favor of "Plantaž". He determined that the equipment of "OMP Engineering", which was his stake, could not be used in that type of production at all.
In spite of this expert's opinion, the former management of "Plantaž" initiated the settlement procedure, and the company's lawyers Ana Đukanović i Marko Hajduković have canceled the power of attorney.
The judge in this dispute was also the president of the Commercial Court Blazo Jovanovic who for several years failed to hear Obradović and Ivanović as witnesses.
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