The Agency for the Protection of Competition assessed that the state aid from the Agreement on Settlement of Mutual Obligations of the Deposit Insurance Agency of Serbia, Jugobanka in bankruptcy and the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro, which provided for the amount of the debt of the Igalo Institute to Jugobanka to be reduced by EUR 1,36 million, is illegal. .
This amount of money was claimed by Montenegro from Jugobanka in bankruptcy on the basis of debt for old foreign currency savings, so with this settlement the Institute's debt to Jugobanka should be reduced to the amount of 5,3 million euros. This money of 1,36 million was not formally paid by the Ministry of Finance.
The government made this settlement decision in September to prevent the Institute from being blocked.
AZK announced that at its session on March 15, at the proposal of the director, the Council passed a resolution establishing that the state aid that was illegally awarded to the Institute "Dr. Simo Milošević" by the Ministry of Finance, based on the Agreement on the Method of Settlement of Part of Mutual Obligations , concluded in September last year between the Deposit Insurance Agency from Belgrade, Jugobank in bankruptcy and the Ministry of Finance, is not in compliance with the Law on Control of State Aid.
"The decision orders the Ministry of Finance to, without delay, and at the latest within four months from the date of receipt of the decision, take the necessary measures for the return of the mismatched state aid from the Igalo Institute in the amount of 1.366.113,32 euros. Also, the decision orders the Ministry of Finance to draw up and submit to AZK a plan for the recovery of non-aligned state aid, with measures and deadlines for its realization or notification of the measures taken for recovery, to AZK within two months from the date of its receipt, the Agency stated. .
On the amount of non-adjusted state aid, interest is calculated for the period from the award of the amount of state aid, i.e. from September 29.09.2023, XNUMX. year until the date of adoption of the decision on restitution and pays default interest in accordance with the law governing default interest.
The "Vijesti" source informed about the developments regarding the Institute states that it is possible that after this decision of the AZK, the Deposit Insurance Agency of Serbia will request the introduction of bankruptcy in the Institute in order to settle the debt that the Institute owes to Jugobanka.
Offer to minority shareholders
The workers of the "Dr. Simo Milošević" Institute should postpone the announced strike that was planned for March 25, after today the Government determines the plan to save the Institute.
The Union announced a press conference for today on the occasion of, as they announced, the decision to postpone the strike of the employees, based on the conclusions of the meeting held on March 18, 03 between representatives of the Institute's management, the Government of Montenegro and the Executive Board of the Institute's representative trade union organization ".
Workers in the hospitality sector who have been on strike since March 14 suspended it on Tuesday.
Yesterday, after the third session, it was announced from the Government Commission dealing with the issue of rescuing the Institute that at the proposal of the Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, the rescue and restructuring plan expanded with two new steps.
"The position has been taken that in the first step an assessment of the Institute's value is made by an independent appraiser and that, based on this assessment, the Government addresses the minority shareholders with an offer for the purchase of shares or their proportional financial participation in the package of measures for rescuing and restructuring the Institute," he announced. is the office of the Deputy Prime Minister Srđan Pavićević who chairs the Committee dealing with the question of the Institute.
Regardless of the response of the minority shareholders, the announcement emphasizes, the Government will have the opportunity to take a final and official position on the rescue plan proposed by the Commission and "about which there is the highest degree of agreement, and which is fully aligned with the rules and principles of the allocation of state help".
"As a reminder, the rescue and restructuring plan, i.e. The rebranding of the Institute involves three steps: aid of a small value of 300 euros to ensure the continuation of work, then aid of up to 000 million, which is given for six months to unblock the account, continue work and ensure liquidity, with the obligation to create a quality plan in those six months restructuring by a renowned global agency that will go through the procedure of approval by the competent authorities and receive a permit for implementation. In this way, the conditions will be created for multimillion-dollar investments in further revitalization and rebranding of the Igalo Institute," the announcement states.
This kind of plan, as it is added, not only solves the acute crisis in which the Institute finds itself, but also opens the possibility of expansion and improvement of business in all segments, in the medium and long term. In this way, the institute "could refresh its already existing brand and raise its competitiveness on the foreign market".
Executive Director of the Institute Zoran Kovacevic earlier he told "Vijesta" that the Institute has about 30 million euros in debt. Of that, close to 10 million euros is owed to "Jugobanca" in bankruptcy, and a large part of the debt relates to claims against the state for taxes and contributions, among them Elektroprivreda and the Municipality of Herceg Novi.
Before the beginning of 2024, the Igalo Institute also lost patients from Norway because it did not pass the tender of the Health Fund there. The main reason for this is the problems the company faced during the last year with frequent blocking of accounts, inability to invest in improving the offer, delay in salary payments... The Norwegian program accounted for a quarter of the Institute's income, which this year also has additional expenses due to the increase earnings by about 30 percent, due to changes in the collective agreement.
The decision orders the Ministry of Finance to draw up and submit to AZK, within two months from the date of its receipt, a plan for the recovery of non-aligned state aid, with measures and deadlines for its implementation or notification of the measures taken for recovery," the Agency announced.
The government will address the minority shareholders with an offer for the purchase of shares or their proportionate financial participation in the package of measures for rescuing and restructuring the Institute
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