Debt to Elektroprivreda (EPCG) of 11,5 million euros, potential collection of 2,2 million based on the reduction of the bankruptcy estate of KAP in bankruptcy, debt to the Montenegrin Electric Transmission System (CGES) of 1,3 million euros and the impossibility of using the oil tanks that located in Bar, Lipci and Bijelo Polje, which it "manages", despite the final court verdict Jugopetrol, are the key problems in the operations of the state oil company Montenegro Bonus.
On these problems, the director of Montenegro Bonus Rados Zecevic he pointed out yesterday at the Committee for Economy, Finance and Budget, which organized consultative hearings regarding the work of the state oil company.
By the end of this week, the board should reach conclusions obliging the competent state institutions to solve the problems of this company, which is threatened with bankruptcy, as soon as possible. The hearing was initiated by a member of the DF and the president of this parliamentary committee Dejan Djurovic.
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Đurović reminded that in 2003, Montenegro was assigned to manage oil derivatives warehouses in Bar, Lipci and Bijelo Polje, and in that year Montenegro Bonus was founded with the aim of managing state assets that were taken over from the former Federal Directorate for Commodity Reserves. A year earlier, the state privatized Jugopetrol, which became part of the Greek Hellenic Petroleum Group, and a year later, according to him, Montenegro Bonus initiated a dispute due to the impossibility of using the reservoirs that the Greek investor claimed belonged to him under the privatization contract and entered them into its 100 % ownership.
Đurović reminded that in 2004 the Commercial Court issued a temporary measure giving Montenegro Bonus the right to use these oil warehouses, and that Jugopetrol does not comply with the issued temporary measures and prevents the state company from unloading and storing petroleum products from the ship in warehouses intended for further sale , which is why Montenegro Bonus pays for ship superstructures.
Less than seven years ago, the state of Montenegro legally emerged as the winner of a decade-long legal dispute with the company Jugopetrol regarding oil tanks, but to this day it has not taken possession of this property, which is the key to the survival and further development of the state-owned oil company Montenegro Bonus. In addition, the state, that is, the government, did not even annex the contract with Montenegro Bonus and, through the annex, enabled it to manage these reservoirs.
Additionally, issues that the executive power has been "pushing under the carpet" for seven years is the agreement with Jugopetrol regarding the establishment of strategic reserves of oil derivatives and compensation for the lost profit of millions to Montenegro Bonus, which has not been able to manage the reservoirs since 2004. It was estimated that the state-owned company lost at least 1,5 million per year from the initiation to the end of the litigation. Montenegro Bonus started the dispute against Jugopetrol in 2003, which was then taken over by the state of Montenegro in 2005 and ended in 2016.
Zečević reminded that Montenegro bonus briefly managed KAP in bankruptcy for 11 months according to the Government's conclusion and that then the debt for electricity arose which the executive power was supposed to settle, which has not happened to date, that during that period KAP remained indebted to them 16 million euros that they never collected, as well as the fact that they are now threatened with the collection of two million euros based on the reduction of the bankruptcy estate of KAP, which they managed to temporarily stop, because in the event of that collection, the company would go bankrupt.
Part of these debts arose in 2013 when the bankrupt KAP, which was then under the management of Montenegro Bonus, stole electricity from the European interconnection. CGES then paid for the stolen electricity, but the energy companies and Montenegro Bonus have not settled the accounts since then.
Zečević stated that they also have a debt to CGES of 1,3 million euros, which they agreed to pay in installments.
"We cannot pay off the debt from regular business. The previous governments failed to find answers to all these open questions left by the previous management of the company", said Zečević, adding that in order to get out of the problem, the government needs to approve their property assessment.
He particularly problematized the fact that they cannot take possession of the property of the oil depots even though they have a final court verdict against Jugopetrol. He announced that about half a million euros are needed to restore the oil storage facilities, as well as that they have private investors who are interested in investing, but that they cannot do anything until the government determines who will manage the property.
Zečević said that their problem is that they cannot get 1,7 million from the Revenue Administration for the VAT refund to which they are entitled according to the tax inspector's report.
Minister of Finance Aleksandar Damjanović he said that on March 30, 2022, according to the Government's conclusion, 383,8 thousand obligations to KAP bankruptcy and 15,8 million obligations of KAP to Montengro Bonus, which were never paid, were written off from the balance sheet of Montengro Bonus, and that the conditions for a VAT refund have been met and that they will seek an answer from the Revenue Administration in this regard.
"Another problem is access to property. The government had the mechanism of state power at its disposal to enter the property after the Supreme Court's 2016 ruling. This problem is coming to an end because the draft agreement that needs to be signed with Jugopetrol is being finalized," said Damjanović, adding that there is a possibility that the government will take over the payment of the debt to EPCG by separating part of the corresponding dividends based on the profits of this energy company. .
The minister pointed out that no one's monopoly would have been possible had it not been for the silence of the state administration, which gave room for work not only to Greek Hellenic, but also to other private oil companies. Damjanović pointed out that the responsibility of individuals for these events should be defined.
Minister of Capital Investments Ervin Ibrahimovic he did not appear at the board meeting, and the acting assistant for energy in this department Sanja Pavićević has announced for this week that the evaluation of Montegnoro Bonus assets will be presented at the Government session. She said that they undertook activities to position Montenegro Bonus in the international framework, so they determined that this company represents the state in the joint company for the Adriatic-Ionian gas pipeline, and that they are working on laws that will regulate the activity of Montenegro Bonus, such as the preparation of a law on security of supply oil derivatives.
Đurović stated that until February 21, when the hearing was scheduled, communication between the state-owned company and the relevant ministry was difficult, which Pavićević denied.
Ivanišević: The judiciary obstructed the proceedings
Former President of the Board of Directors of Montenegro Bonus, Miroslav Ivanišević he said that the history of the court case with Jugopetrol is bleak and shows a disastrous outcome negligence of the state for property of great value.
He clarified that these events should be divided into two periods, the first of which is from 2004 to 2016, where a court case was faked in order to maintain the position of Jugopetrol and that that period was characterized by the obstruction of the judiciary. The second period is after the verdict of the Supreme Court in 2016 and the inaction of the executive power from then until today.
"It is a unique example that after 2016 the ministries are not interested in state resources, the property has been ruined over time, and the lost profit of Montenegro Bonus during this time is large. For the period up to 2016, it was estimated that lost profits ranged from three million (if only the tanks were leased) to 13 million euros (if 80 percent were used for commercial activities and 20 percent for lease), Ivanišević said.
He announced that in 2017 the Government made a decision to resolve the issue with Jugopetrol, a commission was formed in which there was no Montenegro Bonus and only time was being bought.
Ivanišević said that it should be considered that the state does not pay the debt for EPCG electricity, but that these companies enter the ownership structure of Montenegro Bonus and that then with a private-public partnership resources are valorized since there are investors who are interested in the oil reservoirs of Montenegro Bonus.
Ivanišević also believes that the Montenegro Bonus should be included in the law on strategic commodity reserves, and that the current draft foresees that "strategic reserves are stored at coastal locations that are normally used for the shipment of petroleum products".
"In this solution, Jugopetrol is drawn again, because it is the only one with reservoirs on the coast," Ivanišević pointed out.
To answer for privatization
Zdenka Popović (Democrat) said that Jugopetrol was the last company that the state should have privatized and that it was done by someone who wanted to harm the state or have a personal interest.
She said that the current president of the state, Milo Đukanović, approved privatization even though he knew that it was of strategic importance for Jugopetrol to remain in the hands of the state, and that then the state lost control over the purchase price of oil derivatives.
PzP MP Branko Radulović said that the fate of Jugopetrol was the same as the fate of many state-owned companies where the monopoly and infrastructure were sold and that "not even the biggest fool and executioner of Montenegro would have done what Milo Đukanović did". Radulović believes that everyone led by Đukanović should be held accountable to the competent authorities for this privatization.
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