ASP: Genex.me and Saprom provided guarantees for Bemax, both guarantees were issued by Prva banka

In at least two road reconstruction projects in the country in the past few years, in which the selected contractor was the company "Bemax", instead of that company, during the implementation of the concluded contracts, new bank guarantees for the good performance of the work were submitted by Podgorica's "Genex.me" and "Saprom", which has since changed its name to "GX 081", the Action for Social Justice (ASP) announced today.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) added that all three companies are officially registered at the same address - Studentska 2A in Podgorica, and that the companies "Genex.me" and "GX 081" (previously "Saprom") have the construction of roads and highways as their main activity, while "Bemax" has registered the construction of residential and non-residential buildings as its main activity since July 2023.

"In the meantime, the Special State Prosecutor's Office has issued an order to conduct an investigation that includes the company 'Bemax' as a legal entity due to suspicions of money laundering, while its long-standing formal owner and two informal owners are in custody," the ASP said.

The statement states that, in accordance with the Montenegrin Public Procurement Law, a potential conviction of a legal entity for a criminal offense prevents participation in public tenders.

"The company 'Bemax' has carried out the largest number of jobs in traffic infrastructure over the past decade and a half," ASP said.

According to data that ASP claims to possess, the companies "Genex.me" and "Saprom" provided guarantees for "Bemax" in the reconstruction of the Podgorica-Danilovgrad highway and the reconstruction of the Mateševo-Kolašin highway, and both guarantees were issued by Prva Banka.

"In February 2020, when the contract for the reconstruction of the Danilovgrad highway was concluded for a price of over 23,9 million euros, Prva Banka issued a guarantee for 'Bemax' in the amount of almost 2,4 million euros, which corresponded to the value of ten percent of the contracted price of the job. The guarantee was valid until April 2023, but only in mid-September of that year was a new guarantee issued, which Prva Banka issued to the company 'Genex.me', which guaranteed 'Bemax' in the same amount, while the new guarantee expired in mid-October of the following 2024," ASP said.

The NGO said that payments from the State Treasury show that 28,3 million euros were spent on the reconstruction of the Podgorica-Danilovgrad highway, which, according to ASP, is over four million more than the contracted price.

"In the second half of 2020, payments were around 6,27 million euros, a year later over 6,95 million were paid, in 2022 10,2 million, and in 2023 over 4,78 million euros. In relation to the reconstruction of the Mateševo-Kolašin regional road, which was a connector for the motorway section, the contract with "Bemax" was concluded in September 2022 for a price of around 6,4 million, and the Podgorica-based company submitted a bank guarantee for good performance of the work shortly after the contract was concluded. The guarantee was submitted from Prva Banka for the value of 10 percent of the contract, i.e. slightly over 640 thousand euros and with a validity period until mid-August 2023. A new guarantee for good performance of the work for the same value from Prva Banka was submitted in mid-October of that year and with a validity period until December 23 of the same year, but the company "Saprom" appeared as the principal of the guarantee for 'Bemax', which assumed the obligation to provide a guarantee for it," the ASP statement reads.

The NGO said that official data previously submitted to them showed that the reconstruction of the road from Mateševo ​​to Kolašin cost a million euros more, or just under 7,4 million euros.

ASP claims that it is in possession of all issued bank guarantees for these two jobs, which it received through official channels, and adds that in its request to the Traffic Administration to provide the legal basis for another company to provide the bank guarantee instead of the selected contractor, the Administration referred to the Law on Obligations.

"From the perspective of the guarantee beneficiary, it is of utmost importance that the guarantee is unconditional and payable on first demand, in accordance with the Law on Obligations, and that its content corresponds to what is prescribed in the tender documentation," the ASP Administration announced.

The NGO states that the Administration further claims, "the merits of the decision on whether a certain third party meets the conditions to assume the obligation as a guarantor belongs to the bank as the guarantor, and it verifies whether the third party meets all the necessary conditions for issuing a guarantee and assumes the obligation to perform it."

"In their official response, they did not target the Public Procurement Law, according to which the selected contractor must prove its financial ability to implement the procurement during its duration," said ASP.