Six beneficiaries of Abu Dhabi fund owe $27,3 million

Six companies that received loans from the Abu Dhabi Fund of $16,5 million between 2015 and 2018 - "Vektra Jakić", "IM Gradina", "Eko-Per", "HM Durmitor", "Milkraft Leche" and "Amanda" - now owe the state, which was the guarantor of that project, $27,3 million (€23 million). Yesterday, the government tasked the Ministry of Agriculture with forming an interdepartmental working group to propose a solution for the collection of these loans.

This was stated in the information on the status of the credit arrangement financed from the Abu Dhabi Fund (ADFD), which the Government adopted yesterday.

In February 2015, the government of the then Prime Minister Milo Đukanović adopted a conclusion authorizing the Investment and Development Fund to sign an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Fund on behalf of the state on a dedicated loan of 50 million dollars for the development of agriculture. The agreement was signed by the then chairman of the IDF board of directors Zoran Vukcevic, while the then Minister of Agriculture Petar Ivanovic, as indicated in the information, "was in the role of a witness".

The Special State Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against Vukčević, Ivanović, the then director of the Payments Directorate at the Ministry of Agriculture Blagota Radulović, appraiser Milan Adžić, as well as a minister in the 2016 electoral government of confidence. Budimir MugošaThey are suspected of the criminal offense of abuse of official position and abuse of judgment, that is, that the collateral for the approved loans was inadequate, which is why those debts cannot now be collected.

"The Ministry of Agriculture is recognized in the contract as the 'beneficiary' of the loan, which has the authority in accordance with the contract to manage and maintain the project, as follows from the documentation and facts," the Government's information stated yesterday.

From this loan, the IDF has withdrawn 29,6 million dollars, of which 26,5 million were approved for loans to ten companies from Montenegro. The loans have so far been fully repaid by the companies "Mesopromet" of three million, "Agro Carine" of two million and "FML" of two million dollars. "IM Goranović", as stated, is regularly repaying its loan and they have an amount of 1,37 million dollars left.

They did not repay the loans or only paid the first few installments of the company "Vektra Jakić" until 2021. Dragan Brković, “IM Gradina” from Rožaje Darmina Škrijelja, “Eko-Per” from Šavnik Ljub Perišić, “HM Durmitor” Vladimir Kujundžić i Sava Grbović (who was replaced among the founders in the meantime by Sava Kujundzic), “Milkraft Milk” Dragan Burić and “Amanda” from Tuzi Vaselj Ujkić.

According to earlier data from "Vijesti", "Vektra Jakić" took three million dollars in 2015 and returned a total of 37 thousand dollars, "Milkraft" returned 448 thousand of the same amount, "Eko-Per" returned 119 thousand of the two and a half million, "HM Durmitor" returned 2 million 74 thousand, and "IM Gradina" did not return a single cent of the three million dollars received. These companies received loans from the Ministry of Agriculture in the period from October 2015 to June 2017, when the ministers were Petar Ivanović and Milutin SimovicThe IRF approved a loan to the Amanda company in September 2019 in the amount of three million dollars, of which they returned 121 thousand.

The IRF terminated the contract with these companies due to non-payment of obligations and initiated forced collection measures in 2021, but without results.

The information states that in order to resolve the collection problem, a mixed interdepartmental working group is being formed, which will include representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Development Bank (successor to the IDF), the Central Bank, the Special State Prosecutor's Office, the Office of the Protector of Property and Legal Interests, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Justice.