Before signing an intergovernmental agreement with the United Arab Emirates or any similar document that could potentially contain elements of state aid, the Government of Montenegro had to consult the Agency for the Protection of Competition (AZK), and only after receiving an opinion did it formalize the aforementioned procedure, announced the President of the Council of the Agency for the Protection of Competition, Dragan Damjanović.
A few days ago, the AZK said that they had not been asked for their opinion on the proposed two agreements signed by the governments of Montenegro and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on cooperation in the field of tourism and real estate development and on economic cooperation because none of them had asked for their opinion on them.
Since this step was not respected, the AZK Council, Damjanović announced, will give precise instructions to the expert services and, through the pre-examination procedure, collect all necessary documentation for the possible initiation of a subsequent control procedure.
"The agency will assess the effects of the agreement in question through subsidies and benefits that Montenegro will provide to the investor in terms of state aid, with the aim of realizing the announced investment. We note that the EU framework for granting state aid and granting subsidies is very strict and precise, and therefore requires transparency and full compliance with European rules. The Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) defines obligations between member states and Montenegro, and the introduction of such an agreement into Montenegrin legislation could cause a collision of norms and significantly slow down the path towards the EU, which the Government considers a priority," said Damjanović.
He pointed out that initiating the ex-post control procedure would lead to the suspension of all procedures regarding the implementation of the Agreement with the UAE, until the Agency's final opinion.
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