The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management claims that the data from the report of the State Audit Institution (DRI) that 15 concession contracts for the exploitation of forests were extended at the end of 2022 and in the first half of 2023 without the consent of the Government are not correct, and it has submitted documentation to "Vijesti".
"During the audit procedure, the Directorate for Forestry, Hunting and Wood Industry did not have the opportunity, due to a misunderstanding that occurred within the Ministry of Agriculture, to react to the preliminary report of the SAI and highlight the following factual situation regarding the disputed annexes to the Forest Use Agreements. Of the 15 contract annexes listed in the SAI report, three contracts refer to one-year contracts (two for regular logging and one for sanitary logging) and their extension was made with the prior approval of the Government. In connection with the long-term concession contracts, as stated by the SAI, the Ministry of Agriculture did not allow the Forestry Administration to extend them. The annexes mentioned in the SAI report refer to the contract annexes for the year 2022 (that is, the year in which those contracts were valid). All attachments, i.e. annexes, were approved by the Government in the 2022rd quarter of XNUMX," said the department headed by the minister. Vladimir Jokovic.
The SAI determined that the Directorate for Forest and Hunting Management annexed 15 concession contracts for forest exploitation without Government decisions, thereby violating the Law on Concessions. Of that number, nine contracts were annexed on December 29, 2022, and six from March to mid-September 2023. All those contracts were signed for 15 years and according to the findings of the SAI, they expired in 2022, and the annexes include new forest plots and extend the validity periods of the contracts and enable the concessionaires to continue exploitation of forests. These are companies - "Pelengić Trade", "Boj komerc", ŠIK "Polimlje", ŠIK "Lim" and "Hasko company".
SAI provided the data in the audit of the operations of this ministry in 2022, in which a negative opinion was given on the regularity of operations and conditionally on the regularity audit with 37 recommendations that should be implemented.
The Ministry also pointed out that the three annexes to the contract, which the Forestry Administration concluded with Boj komerc and "ŠIK LIM" in March 2023, were concluded without the consent of the Government and delivery to the Ministry, which was informed about it from the documents of the SAI in the audit process.
"The Ministry, as recommended by the SAI, in cooperation with the Forestry Inspection, will supervise the legality and effectiveness of the work of the Directorate for Forest and Hunting Management and will report this to all competent authorities as soon as possible in accordance with the law, in order to determine the responsibility of officials which acted independently, without the consent of the Government, in the cases that were included in the audit, as well as in all other cases that were carried out during and after the audit", said the Ministry of Agriculture.
"Vijesti" also asked the Directorate for the Management of Forests and Hunting Grounds what activities they had undertaken regarding the findings of the SAI that 15 concession contracts for forest exploitation had been annexed in violation of the law.
"The annexes were made for nine concession contracts, not for 15. If the SAI determined that there was non-compliance with the law in that period or some omissions in the work on this matter, it is necessary to forward it to the competent authorities who will investigate the case and determine responsibility , because the Directorate for Forest and Hunting Management does not have the authority to do so. Please note that the acting director Miloš Rajković he did not sign the annex for any concession contract", they stated from this Administration.
The concessionaires were obliged to complete their works upon the expiry of the validity of the annexes to the concession contracts, i.e. during 2023, with the specified dates in the annexes, after which the deadlines for the execution of the works by the Management of Forests and Hunting Grounds, as claimed by the Management, were neither extended nor any new annexes are passed.
"Concessionaires have been extended by annexes only the deadline for the realization of the quantities that are in charge until 2022, which they did not realize for various reasons. The contracts were extended individually until June, August or November 2023, depending on when 15 years passed from the date of conclusion of the concession contract in 2008," the Administration said.
The annexes were made for nine concession contracts, not for 15. If the SAI determined that there was non-compliance with the law in that period or some omissions in the work on this issue, it is necessary to forward it to the competent authorities who will investigate the case and determine responsibility because The Directorate for Management of Forests and Hunting Grounds does not have the authority for that, they said in the Directorate for Forests
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