The dispute that the “Bistrica Clean Energy” consortium is conducting against the state in the Commercial Court due to the termination of the contract for the construction of a small hydroelectric power plant (SHP) on the river of the same name in Bijelo Polje will continue next month, after the deputy protector of the state's property and legal interests Radomirka Raičević submit some documentation and state whether he/she proposes an economic and financial expert assessment.
This decision was made yesterday at a hearing by a judge of the Commercial Court. Filip Vujošević.
In October 2023, the Commercial Court ruled that the state was obliged to pay the consortium compensation for the termination of the contract in the amount of 760 thousand euros and procedural costs of 20 thousand. The Office of the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of the State and "Bistrica Clean Energy" both filed appeals to the Court of Appeal against this decision, so the judgment was overturned and the dispute was reopened in the Commercial Court in March last year.
Judge Vujošević, based on the Court of Appeal's reasons for termination, requested that Raičević submit the conclusion on the termination of the contract from December 2020, as well as the statement on the termination from January 2021. In addition, he asked whether he proposed an expert assessment of the economic and financial profession on the work of the companies "Hydro logistics" and "Sistem MNE", which the protector referred to when appealing the earlier verdict.
Lawyer “Bistrica Clean Energy” Stefan Žižić He stressed that the state had enough time to decide whether to propose additional evidence, and that this was a delay in the proceedings. He added that he believed that the dispute had been sufficiently clarified for a decision to be made, and that the hearing should be concluded.
Previously, the owner of the company “BP Hydropower” was heard in this dispute Žarko Burić and former minister Dragica Sekulić.
“BP Hydropower” is the majority owner of “Bistrica Clean Energy” with a 98 percent stake, and they received the concession for the construction of a small hydroelectric power plant in January 2017. The government Duško Marković At the end of 2019, the Government adopted information on the need to terminate the contract and initiate an agreement on amicable termination, which did not occur even though the concessionaire requested it. Zdravka Krivokapića then unilaterally terminates the contract in December 2020, explaining that the concessionaire did not submit a new bank guarantee within the legally prescribed deadline.
The concessionaire then files a lawsuit seeking compensation for damages for the investments made to date, as well as for lost profits that it could have earned during the concession period from the sale of electricity and subsidies. During the proceedings, a court expert Dragan Djukic proposed to the court that they pay the plaintiff 602 thousand euros as compensation for actual damage, 157 thousand euros as interest on that amount, as well as 27,5 million euros for compensation for lost profits with late interest.
Following the Commercial Court's ruling that the state is obliged to pay the company "Bistrica Clean Energy" compensation for the termination of the contract in the amount of 760 thousand euros and procedural costs of 20 thousand, the Court of Appeal assessed that both parties had justified indicating that significant violations of the civil procedure had been committed, that the state was liable for the damage due to the unfounded termination of the contract, while it was also determined that "Bistrica Clean Energy" cannot claim compensation for work that they did not perform.
The state should also pay Blaž for Slatina
There are several disputes against the state based on the termination of the contract for the small hydropower plant, so they will have to pay the company "BB Hidro" 226.212 euros for the plant on the Slatina River in Kolašin, plus interest from April last year to the present, due to compensation for damages and default interest.
This is stated in the verdict issued by the Commercial Court on February 21st, which can also be appealed to the Court of Appeal.
The court only partially accepted the lawsuit of "BB Hidro", because the request to pay them 1,41 million euros in lost profits was rejected.
The company "BB Hidro" is owned by Ivan Burzanović and Blaž Đukanović, the son of former President Milo Đukanović, and they are also seeking compensation for damages and lost profits because they were prevented from building the "Slatina" small hydropower plant, despite the fact that they were issued an energy permit for it based on the 2017 concession agreement.
The private company filed a lawsuit seeking payment of 1,41 million euros for lost profits, 168,51 thousand euros with default interest for ordinary damages, as well as 79,41 thousand euros for interest calculated in the expert's findings and opinion, and other costs...
Bonus video:
