Đeljošaj about the .me domain: First the verdict, then the tender for a new agent

The dispute regarding the Registration Agent of the national internet mark .me must first be legally concluded, which would depend on the conclusion of the Contract based on the Public Invitation.

This was the answer of the Minister of Economic Development, Nik Đeljošaj, to the parliamentary question of Vasilij Čarapić, head of the Club of Deputies of the Europe Now Movement (PES).

Đeljošaj said that, as a result of the case being returned to the Commercial Court, the outcome of the dispute should not be prejudiced.

On March 20, the Appellate Court of Montenegro annulled parts of the first-instance verdict and sent the case back to the Commercial Court for re-decision, the case of the company Domen v. Dražva in connection with the registration of the mark.me.

That court rejected the company's proposal to determine a temporary measure prohibiting the state from conducting a public call for the selection of a registration agent within the national internet domain of Montenegro.

The domain previously asked the Commercial Court to establish that the Agreement on the registration agent for the mark.me, which was concluded in February 2008, together with the annexes, is in force and has legal effect until March 21, 2033, as well as to determine a temporary measure .

The Commercial Court ruled in favor of the state and rejected that claim.

Answering the second part of Čarapić's question, how much damage, in Đeljošaj's estimation, did the state budget suffer due to the fact that a year after the end of the contract, the company "Domen" continued to collect revenues, the minister pointed out that last year the state received a third of its revenue from the sale of free domains, and from selling "premium domains" 70 percent of the profit.

"In 2023, 2.927.630,64 euros were paid to the Government of Montenegro from the regular registration of free domains. That is 93,06% of the total income of the Government of Montenegro from the sale of domains. From the registration of the premium domain, 218.400,00 euros were paid to the Government of Montenegro, which is 6.94% of the total income of the Government of Montenegro from the sale of domains. Therefore, the total revenue in the Budget of Montenegro in 2023 is EUR 3,146.030,64", the answer reads.

Đeljošaj noted that in the 16 years since the registration of the .me domain, the state budget has generated slightly more than 40 million euros.