Until yesterday, the government did not hand over the documentation related to the construction project of the "Magnum" hotel in Kolašin to the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), despite announcements that it would do so on December 2, "Vijesti" was told from unofficial sources.
From the available documentation and the testimony of the immediate actors, it can be concluded that there are huge ambiguities, not only about the bank guarantee, but also about the process of including the construction of the hotel "Magnum" in the project of economic citizenship.
On December 2, the executive authorities unofficially announced that they decided to take that step after they found out that the investor had submitted a fake bank guarantee for 2.500.000 euros.
From the Ministry of Regional Investment Development, headed by the Minister Ernad Suljević, they officially told "Vijesta" that they will do it by the end of this Sunday, as well as that this project has been removed from the list of development projects.
The company "Magnum Development" undertook to complete the work within the economic citizenship project by October 30, 2024, which was not done.
As it turns out, their cover for this was a fake guarantee from the Italian bank "Credit Agricole" of 2,5 million euros. The deadline for activating the guarantee expired on December 1. In its response to the Embassy of Montenegro in Rome, the bank said that "Magnum Development" was not its client.
The Ministry of Investment Development did not specify whether, according to the law and other acts, the validity of the attached guarantee must be checked before it is accepted, and whose obligation it is in the Government to do so.
This guarantee was officially submitted on December 21, 2021 to the Ministry of Economic Development, which was then headed by the current president of the country Jakov Milatovic, whose department did not include this project in the list of those for which a Montenegrin passport can be obtained.
The company "Magnum Development" claims that the Ministry of Economic Development checked the validity of the guarantee with the bank on December 23, 2021.
"The legal team that we engaged in the previous days submitted a submission to the SDT today, December 4, 12, and at their request will make available the complete documentation that is in the possession of "Magnum Development" in order to conduct the procedure in a timely and efficient manner and determine of all relevant facts", said yesterday from the company he owns Veselin Bečanović.
"I personally advised the minister that this project could not be accepted for a number of reasons, with which the departmental director of the directorate and the state secretary for tourism were in agreement," said the representative of the Movement "Evropa Sad" for "Vijesti". Vasilije Carapić who was Milatović's legal adviser at the time in the ministry.
The completion of the hotel depends only on the investor
The authorities did not officially respond to Vijesti's questions - whether a case was opened regarding the false bank guarantee and what has been determined so far...
"Is the Police Directorate acting on the order of any prosecution, i.e. checking the operations of the company that planned the construction of the Magnum Development hotel in Kolašin, and after, as claimed by the Government, it was established that that company submitted a false bank guarantee in the amount of 2.500.000 euros... What has been done so far in that case", were the questions to the Police Directorate that remained unanswered.
The Ministry of Investment and Regional Development said that the government excluded this hotel from the list of development projects in the field of tourism on November 19.
"All further plans and outcomes related to this hotel, in the part of further investment and the completion of the facility, solely depend on the investor. By excluding it from the list of development projects in the field of tourism, the project is no longer the focus of this Ministry", said the Ministry.
This department clarified that the public call for expressions of interest for the qualification of projects on the List of Development Projects in the field of tourism defined the investor's obligation to "with the prior consent of the Ministry, after publication on the List of Development Projects, hire an independent controller who will monitor the implementation of the development project in accordance with the Business Plan and on a half-yearly basis reports to the Ministry, i.e. the Government, on the status of implementation.
"Through the reports of the independent controller, the government monitors the implementation of development projects and in the case of non-fulfillment of obligations, sends an urgent request regarding the intensification of the planned dynamics of project implementation. In the event that through the subsequent reports of the independent controller it is established that the works are not being carried out in accordance with the Dynamic Plan, the Government has the right to initiate the collection of the bank guarantee", explained the Ministry.
"Vijesti" asked this department whether, according to the law and other acts, the validity of the attached guarantee must be checked before it is accepted, and whose obligation in the government is to do it - the ministry of finance or the ministry leading the project, but it was avoided answer that question directly. It is stated that the guarantee is submitted in accordance with the Public Invitation and the Decision for the acquisition of a Montenegrin passport.
"Investors submitted irrevocable bank guarantees on a voluntary basis, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Invitation, and thus accepted the provisions of the Decision. We emphasize that each body works in accordance with its own procedures (letters, inquiries, etc.)", they said from this department.
Submission of the guarantee is defined in Article 11, Paragraph 1, Point 3 of the Decision for the Acquisition of a Montenegrin Passport through the Economic Citizenship Program
Čarapić: List of projects locked in December 2021.
The Ministry announced that as part of the construction project of the "Magnum" hotel, which was included in the List of Development Projects on June 17, 6, one application for a passport was submitted, which was approved on May 2022, 20.
"Vijesti" also asked the current MP of the Movement Europe now about the case of "Magnum Development". Vasilija Čarapić, who was a legal advisor in the Ministry of Economic Development when this guarantee was delivered in 2021.
"As Jakov Milatović's legal advisor during the time when he was the Minister of Economic Development in the 42nd Government, I performed the most complex legal tasks in the ministry for the minister's needs, and among other things, I advised him on the issue of the economic citizenship project. I would like to mention that the economic citizenship program was monitored by a special directorate in the Ministry, but I also monitored this matter by order of the minister. During the time when Milatović was at the head of the department, a key change concerning the economic citizenship program, and on which I personally worked, referred to the amendment of the Decision on Economic Citizenship, which, based on a detailed analysis, extended the validity period of the program and which amended conditions of the program - an obligation was added to pay an additional 100.000 euros to the Innovation Fund account with the application, and all investors in existing projects were asked to submit a new guarantee for the realization of the project in in the amount of 2,5 million or 7,5 million euros, as a condition of remaining in the program. All new guarantees had to be verified through SWIFT upon receipt to be approved. This meant that the list of projects was locked and that after 31.12. In 2021, she could only make corrections in the direction of deleting programs from the list, but not adding new ones," explained Čarapić.
According to him at that time, until December 31, 12, the project of the company "Magnum Development" was not included in the economic citizenship program because it did not meet the criteria.
"And, I personally advised the minister that this project cannot be accepted for several reasons, with which both the director of the directorate and the state secretary for tourism agreed. After the changes to the Decision on Economic Citizenship from December 30, 12, this project could not formally be included in the list of development projects, although I am aware that investors requested it. For this reason, I did not inspect the documentation accompanying their application to the program, except for the business plan, which I considered to be unrealistic. The last activity of the 2021nd Government concerning the economic citizenship program, and on which I also worked, was in March 42, when 2022 projects were deleted from the list of development projects, which was due to the failure to provide a guarantee under the new conditions, which was due to the assessment that certain projects are not implemented at all. After this, I did not participate in any activities regarding this program, especially not in the activities of the 6rd Government, which as part of its own policy changed the Decision on Economic Citizenship adopted by the 43nd Government and on June 42, 17, allowed the Magnum Development company's project will be included in the list of development projects, even though the previous government refused to do so," said Čarapić.
He was the Minister of Economic Development in the 43rd Government Goran Đurović (URA) which, as explained by Čarapić, brought his legal advisor, while he is leaving the ministry in June 2022.
He emphasized that time has shown that the initial assessment he had as an advisor to the minister about the "Magnum Development" project was correct, and that the decisions of the 42nd Government when it came to the economic citizenship program were well measured.
"On the other hand, the actions of the then minister Goran Đurović and the prime minister Dritan Abazović were thoughtless and suspicious, which is best illustrated by the case with the false guarantee for the "Magnum Development" project. I invite the prosecution to investigate this case in detail and the criminal responsibility of everyone in the chain of making this project included in the list of development projects, along with of course the criminal responsibility of the investor who submitted a false guarantee, which in my opinion is indisputable," Čarapić emphasized.
Warranty validity checked on December 23, 2021.
The company "Magnum Development" officially told "Vijesta" that it is the current owner and executive director Veselin Bečanović joined the company on 13/6/2022 as an executive director, after which he became the owner of 2% of the shares on 8/2022/66,66, and became the 100% owner on 7/11/2023.
"The company was taken over from the then owners - Be Čilikin, Ludin Dmitrija i Mekjuryeva Zlate. The current management of "Magnum Development" took over management and ownership of the company significantly later than the period when the bank guarantee in question was allegedly issued. The current management did not have the slightest reason to doubt the correctness of the bank guarantee issued by the Italian bank "Credit Agricole" in the amount of 2,5 million euros, which the bank submitted to the then Ministry of Economic Development on December 21, 2021, for the reason that the validity and guarantees checked and confirmed by the then Ministry of Economic Development at the aforementioned bank on December 23, 2021. The confirmation of the validity of the bank guarantee is contained in the information of the Government of Montenegro, which was adopted at the session on June 17, 2022.
"Vijesti" asked the company how many accommodation units they sold as part of economic citizenship projects.
"The sale of accommodation units reflects specific market needs and investment dynamics. A special investment program of special importance for the economic and economic interest of Montenegro was designed to attract high-profile investors, whereby all persons who invested in the "Magnum developmenta" project acquired Montenegrin citizenship by admission. We would like to mention that our project was included in the Program just before its end, so the benefits from it could not even be used", explained the company.
As they stated, the realization of the hotel project is not carried out on the basis of any contract with the state of Montenegro, but is exclusively a matter of private investment.
"The project in question was included in the list of development projects, which was a prerequisite for the investor to be able to sell accommodation units in accordance with the Decision on the criteria, method and procedure for selecting persons who can acquire Montenegrin citizenship by admission for the purpose of implementing the Special Investment Program of special importance for economic and the interest of Montenegro, which in the meantime ceased to be valid", said the company, adding that when the decision ceased to be valid, the case ended, that is, the reason for including the project on the list of development projects fell away.
On June 6, 2023, "Magnum Development" and the prestigious hotel group "IHG" signed a franchise agreement, so that the new hotel in Kolašin should operate under the name "Crowne Plaza Kolašin".
Ramel co-borrower for the loan with IRF
According to financial reports, the company "Magnum Development" has a negative net result for the last three years. "Vijesti" asked on what basis they claim that they can get a loan from the state Investment and Development Fund of five million euros for the completion of the works.
"We emphasize that companies engaged in construction must declare a loss (unless they have some other business activity on the basis of which they generate income, which is not the case here - Magnum Development is exclusively engaged in the realization of the hotel project in Kolašin. Therefore, payments based on the preliminary sales contract are cannot be shown as income (in the income statement), but are shown in the financial statements as advances received (in the balance sheet). there is no income, but expenses are recorded).So, it is common for financial institutions (funds, banks) to approve loans to companies, in which case the justification of the project is analyzed (in this case, it is not relevant whether the company makes a profit in the first years)", they said from companies.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", IRF approved this loan through project financing, not for working capital.
"The mortgage was placed on the entire project, and the co-borrower for the loan is the private company Ramel," said a "Vijesti" source familiar with this arrangement.
The company "Ramel" has business ties with Blazo Đukanović, the son of the recent president of the state, Milo Đukanović. Mlađi Đukanović took out loans in the name of his company "BB solar" whose beneficiary was "Ramel".
Democrats labeled the company "Ramel" in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic as the company behind which Blažo Đukanović is hiding.
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