Chief Special State Prosecutor Vladimir Novović should reopen the case related to criminal charges for loans approved with a currency clause linked to the Swiss franc, which were approved by Adiko Bank (former Hypo Alpe Adria Bank).
This was announced yesterday at the session of the Committee for Economy, Finance and Budget, which held a consultative hearing regarding this topic.
Special prosecutor Zorica Milanović said that in connection with the conclusion of the loan agreement in Swiss francs, several cases were formed that were merged into one, but that there were no elements of a criminal offense in them.
"I undertook numerous evidentiary actions and, analyzing all the collected data and documentation, made the decision that there is no reasonable suspicion that any of the reported persons committed a criminal offense under the jurisdiction of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (STP)," she stated.
The MPs pointed out at the committee that this is not only a legal issue, but also an economic one, and that SDT must have prosecutors who will deal with financial malfeasance.
In 2016, the state allowed citizens who took out loans in Swiss francs from Adiko Bank to convert those loans into euros under the conditions that were valid on the day they were taken out, i.e. with a fixed interest rate of 8,2 percent per annum and without a grace period. interest.
This was done through a law adopted by the Parliament, which was preceded by a lawsuit filed by the clients. The lawsuit was filed in May 2013. The bank approved loans in Swiss francs in 2007 and 2008, and later, due to the change in the exchange rate, installments were drastically increased. Because of that situation, some citizens took their own lives. Since the law fulfilled what the citizens demanded by the lawsuit, 113 of them gave up the lawsuit due to the economy of the procedure, while 154 clients did not.
However, to this day there remains the issue of unresolved court costs, which are being tried to fall on the citizens. According to the verdict of the Basic Court in Podgorica, which was confirmed by the Higher Court, each of the clients individually must pay 4.032 euros for court costs in the proceedings with the bank and another 3.600 euros each to the company "Holdco East" (a third party) to which the bank transferred loans that it did not could charge. These costs are further increased due to interest. Those loans were first transferred to "Hypo Aple Adria Development", then to "Heta Asst Resolution" and finally to "Holdco East". The collection of costs has been stopped in the meantime and the issue has not been resolved to this day.
In November 2021, the International Tribunal in Paris rejected the lawsuit of Adiko banka against Montenegro, from which they considered that the Law on Credit Conversion was a violation of international legal obligations.
The representative of the beneficiary of Swiss franc loans, Dragan Senić, said at the committee that the institutions in the country did not do their work in accordance with the laws, and that the citizens were treated with great injustice because of this.
Senić stated that numerous international judgments were in favor of injured clients, and that only in Montenegro was the situation reversed.
"In Montenegro, we have companies, Adiko banka and Holdco East, which are still stronger than the state," Senić pointed out.
He called on the SDT to conduct an audit of this case and stated that the representatives of the former Hipo Alpe Adria Bank and the Central Bank (CBCG) should be held accountable. The MP of the Movement for Change, Branko Radulović, as well as the MP of the Democrats, Zdenka Popović, called for the determination of criminal liability, who assessed that banks had to warn clients when taking out loans that there was a currency risk, and that the control mechanism of the CBCG was absent, stating that it was "speculative business".
DF MP Dejan Đurović, who moderated the hearing, said that the interest of the citizens must be above all else, and that while other countries protected their citizens because of these loans, in Montenegro they were advertised. He said that the state must citizens who used these loans to get out of the crisis.
An expert in the financial profession, Milenko Popović, said that Adiko Bank did not inform clients about the assigned loans and that it did not comply with the provisions of the Law on Conversion. He cited his earlier finding in which he stated that the CBCG, with its inaction and insufficient and superficial control of the bank, since the day when the first contracts were concluded, sided with Adiko Bank, and against the interests of the clients.
They claim that they worked in accordance with the law
The lawyer of Adiko Bank, Vanja Mugoša, stated that the bank has fully applied the decisions from the Law on Conversion, and that there are no objections that have not been resolved.
He added that the Constitutional Court found that at the time of concluding the disputed contracts - the introduction of currency clauses into the contracts was not illegal.
CBCG representative Darko Bulatović announced that it was not true that the institution was against the adoption of the law, stating that immediately after its entry into force, they carried out checks on the bank with special care.
"The entire task of supervising the loan conversion was carried out in accordance with the law," emphasized Bulatović.
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