The hearing for the million-dollar dispute initiated by EPCG against Uniprom due to the electricity debt has ended

Elektroprivreda (EPCG) requests that the company "Uniprom" pay them 4,67 million euros with late interest, due to the electricity debt incurred by this private company in November and December 2021. From the private "Uniprom", they want this request to be rejected as unfounded, based on the reasons they presented during the dispute.

This could be heard yesterday in the Commercial Court, during the final presentations in the dispute between these two companies. In addition, the lawyer of "Uniprom" Ksenija Franović she repeated the request that the company's debt be paid through their emissions credits for harmful gases, which will pay both the amount of the lawsuit and the interest. EPCG lawyer Tatjana Bokan she emphasized that the debt of "Uniprom" is a monetary obligation, and that this money was given in the name of security, not the fulfillment of the contract.

Judge Diana Raickovic will make a decision on the dispute between the two companies in the next 30 days.

EPCG sued Uniprom, which is part of a business group of businessmen Veselin Pejović, based on the electricity debt of EUR 4,68 million that Kombinat aluminum (KAP), as a part of "Uniprom", made in November and December 2021. The former management of EPCG entered into an agreement with "Uniprom" on the purchase of emission credits for the emission of harmful gas for 17 million euros, which the company previously received for free from the state. "Uniprom" received free electricity for that amount, and they believe that this part of the debt is also a settlement for that amount.

Financial expert Stevo Kostić who did the analysis and specified the debt of "Uniprom", yesterday speaking on the company's objection to supplementing the findings, said that he did everything in accordance with the task, that the remaining objections were of a legal nature and that he could not comment on them. Bokan had no objection to that.

Franović proposed that Kostić calculate the value of emission credits, the assignment of which was defined by the contract of the two companies dated January 15, 2021, with the clarification that it is 307,01 thousand credits at a price of 22,8 euros, plus VAT. She stated that part of the debt for electricity on an annual level was previously settled between companies by taking over these loans.

The court accepted that request, and expert witness Kostić calculated that the amount according to these parameters would be 8,47 million euros, which, he said, is enough for "Uniprom" to cover the debt and interest. Bokan reiterated that this calculation is unimportant for the resolution of the dispute because the contract is based on a monetary obligation and is a means of security.