Illegal decision to have Čivović pay court costs

The Court of Appeals of Montenegro has overturned the verdict of the Commercial Court in the case of former Bauxite Mine worker Raša Čivović against the company of Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska, in the part relating to the payment of court costs.

Previously, in a ruling from April, the Commercial Court rejected Čivović's claim, which sought to establish that there were no claims of around 17,5 million euros (plus four million euros in interest) from Deripaska's companies, which were allegedly invested in Bauxite and paid through a Lithuanian bank, and ordered a former employee of a bankrupt Nikšić company to pay court costs in the amount of 234.634 euros.

Upon Čivović's appeal, the Court of Appeal upheld the Commercial Court's verdict regarding the claims, but overturned the decision that Čivović pay 234.634 euros in court costs and returned the case to the first-instance (Commercial) Court for retrial.

The contested verdict, as explained in the decision of the Court of Appeal, was quashed in part regarding costs, "because the plaintiff's appeals reasonably indicate that the decisions on the costs of the proceedings in the aforementioned paragraphs are unlawful."

It is added that the allegations in the appeal "do not call into question the correctness and legality of the contested verdict in the part of the decision on the main matter," so the first-instance decision, which relates to the claims of Deripaska's companies, was confirmed.

Čivović told Vijesti that he does not expect the Commercial Court to decide differently in the retrial.

He pointed out that Deripaska's money "has not been seen by anyone, it has not been invested anywhere and there is no account."

"It is still unknown today whether anyone withdrew the money (allegedly paid through a Lithuanian bank). The expert's findings were made on an old form that contains the old area code for Podgorica '081'. It appears to have been made in some basement," said Čivović.

He repeated that he was not allowed to be an expert witness in the proceedings because, as he says, the real truth would have been revealed if the money had not been borrowed.

Čivović has been leading a 12-year dispute against Oleg Deripaska's companies, Shasta Universal and the Central European Aluminum Company (CEAC), as well as the Bauxite Mine that Deripaska once managed.

In mid-June, he submitted a letter to the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović, the President of the Supreme Court Valentina Pavličić, the Minister of Justice Bojan Božović, and all parliamentary groups informing them that the Commercial Court, in the proceedings against Deripaska, had ordered him to pay court costs of 234.634 euros.

In her response to Čivović, the President of the Supreme Court, Valentina Pavličić, stated that she had thoroughly reviewed the content of his submission (complaint against the actions of the Commercial Court) and requested a statement from the judge and the President of the Commercial Court.

"Since in this particular case the presiding judge issued a verdict that the litigants appealed, and the case files were submitted to the Court of Appeal for decision, I do not find that the judge committed a disciplinary offense defined by the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges, bearing in mind that the complaint relates to a verdict whose legality will be examined through the appeal procedure," said Pavličić.

She added that in the event of any dissatisfaction with the outcome of the proceedings, the parties have the right to review judicial decisions in accordance with applicable laws.

"This can only be done in a multi-tiered decision-making process based on regular and extraordinary legal remedies, so in that sense I advise you to use them," Pavličić said in his response.

The office of President Jakov Milatović responded to Čivović that they had forwarded his complaint to the Ministry of Energy and Mining for comment, and that they would inform him of their action as soon as they received feedback.

"The supervision of the work of executive and judicial authorities, in accordance with the Constitution, is not within the competence of the president of the state, on the basis of which there is no legal basis for taking action in your case," they explained.

The Parliamentary Commission announced conclusions that it will forward to the authorities

Čivović also presented his case at the session of the Parliamentary Commission for Monitoring the Privatization Process on July 22nd.

The Commission considered the privatization process and the current situation in the Bauxite Mines company.

The session was also attended by the bankruptcy administrator of the Bauxite Mine, Nenad Amidžić.

After the session, it was announced that, after additional analysis, documentation and positions expressed at the session, conclusions regarding the consideration of this privatization procedure will be adopted at one of the following sessions.

The conclusions will, as announced, be sent to the competent state institutions with the aim of re-engaging and examining all the actions pointed out by the participants of the session in relation to the company Rudnici Bauxita, "because it is not only the claims and rights of workers that are at stake, but also the state property of a once large economic entity."