The Committee for Economy, Finance and Budget discussed, but there was no vote on the Draft Law on Security of Supply of Oil Derivatives, because not enough deputies attended the session.
This law is crucial for negotiations on Montenegro's accession to the European Union, as a benchmark for opening and closing accession negotiations on Chapter 15 - Energy. It creates an obligation to form oil reserves, which the Hydrocarbons Administration and every importer of oil derivatives that imports 15.000 tons or more of unleaded gasoline and/or gas oils have.
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Reserves will serve in the event of a risk of disruption or in the event of a disruption in the supply of oil derivatives.
They will consider the tanks in Lipci and Bijelo Polje
The Minister of Mining, Oil and Gas Admir Šahmanović stated that Montenegro, as a member of the Energy Community, undertook to form these reserves and that the legislation harmonize with the European ones in this sector, which will enable financial support and support from other countries.
For the formation of oil reserves in the period from now until the end of 2028, 44,5 million euros will be needed, of which 7,5 million have been provided for this year as a grant from the European Union to overcome the energy crisis, and the rest of the money will be provided through a special a fee that will be paid by citizens and the economy in the amount of three cents that will be added to the retail price of fuel.
He stated that their goal is to create sufficient quantities by 2029, but that it can happen earlier.
"It is about the activities that lead to the closing of the realization of the final benchmark of the Energy chapter, and this is one of the activities. Next is the reconstruction of the terminal in Bar in order to create physical capacities for oil. We currently do not meet the requirements for formation, but this is the first step and I can announce that we have prepared a tender for calling for calls for the reconstruction of the terminal in Bar. We will consider what to do with the reservoirs in Lici and Bijelo Polje, and with the budget for next year we have planned to work on the project documentation, so that everything goes in its own way," he said.
He said this in response to a question from New Serbian Democracy (NSD) deputy Dejan Đurović, who asked if we meet the conditions to have reserves at all times.
The President of the Committee, Boris Mugoša, said that this law has been in the process for more than five months, and he referred to the letter from the Association of Oil Companies of Montenegro, which indicated that smaller importers who import quantities of less than 15.000 tons were discriminated against.
Acting Director General of the Directorate for Oil and Gas, Zorana Sekulić, stated that the Association was consulted and participated in the course of work on the law, and that their ideas were respected.
"The situation in Montenegro is specific, we don't have a monopoly but an oligopoly. We have three or four companies that cover 96 percent of the market, and only one imports by sea, namely 60 percent of derivatives and the other 40 percent by road transport," she emphasized.
Đurović added that the issue of reservoirs in Lipci and Bar must be resolved, and he asked Šahmanović to suggest that Montenegro recover its commodity reserves.
"We wouldn't have this problem, we haven't had commodity reserves since 2002, we had some in Hungary. I think that any country that doesn't have reserves will have these problems. We included it in the Spatial Plan and it is mandatory that we have commodity reserves." , stated Đurović.
At the session, it was announced that the members of the Council of the Central Bank of Montenegro, which currently, as Mugoša pointed out, are truncated, must be processed. ..
There were also discussions about how opposition MPs do not attend the session, so important topics cannot be discussed, and it was also mentioned that some MPs do not submit conclusions after consultative hearings.
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