No millions in damages for Đukanović and partner

The Commercial Court has issued another ruling in the dispute between the company "BB Hidro" (BBH) and the state over the impossibility of building the small hydroelectric power plant (sHP) "Slatina", rejecting the private company's request for payment of 1,65 million euros in damages and lost profits. The company will have to pay the state of Montenegro 26.600 euros in costs of this procedure.

This is stated in the ruling issued by a judge of the Commercial Court at the end of June. Marija Adzic, which "Vijesti" had access to. This is a first-instance decision, so there is a possibility of appeal.

The company BBH, whose owners are Ivan Burzanović i Blazo Djukanovic, the son of the former president Milo Đukanović, is seeking compensation for damages and lost profits from the state, 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.

"BBH" is suing to have the court determine that the concession agreement for the small hydroelectric power plant "Slatina" from 2017 has been terminated, but also that the state pay them 1,41 million euros for lost profits, 168,51 thousand euros with default interest for ordinary damages, as well as 79,41 thousand for interest calculated in the expert's findings and opinion and other costs...

"The claim seeking to establish that the concession agreement based on the energy permit for the construction of the small hydroelectric power plant "Slatina" was terminated on May 25, 2017 is dismissed. The claim seeking to oblige the defendant to pay the plaintiff, as compensation for damages - lost profits, the amount of 1.410.915 euros is dismissed as unfounded. The claim seeking to oblige the defendant to pay the plaintiff, as ordinary damages, the amount of 168.514 euros with statutory default interest from April 1, 2024, the date of the preparation of the findings and opinion of the economic and financial expert, until final payment, as well as the amount of 79.419 euros, based on statutory default interest, is dismissed as unfounded. The plaintiff is ordered to compensate the defendant, as costs of the proceedings, the amount of 26.600 euros," the verdict states.

In February last year, the Commercial Court partially accepted this lawsuit and ruled that the state should pay more than 226.000 euros to "BBH" as compensation for the termination of the concession contract for the small hydropower plant. After an appeal, the dispute was transferred to the Court of Appeal, which in October 2025 overturned such a verdict and returned the case to the Commercial Court.

Waiting for the Administrative Court

The reasoning of the verdict states that "BBH" notified the Ministry of Capital Investments of the termination of the contract at the end of September 2021, because in April of that year the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism issued a decision suspending the procedure for verifying the construction application for "Slatina" from the end of 2020 until the state control of the procedures and legality of the concluded concession contracts for several small hydropower plants is completed.

The private individual filed an appeal, which was rejected by the Ministry of Ecology, so "BBH" filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court in June 2021.

In the lawsuit, they requested confirmation that "BBH" had terminated the contract, but the Commercial Court stated that under the concession contract, project deadlines can only be extended at the request of the concessionaire, which the state must decide on.

"By the judgment of the Administrative Court of May 16, 2023, the plaintiff's lawsuit filed against the decision of the Ministry of Ecology was rejected. Against the aforementioned judgment, the plaintiff filed a request for review of the court decision, and the Supreme Court of Montenegro issued a judgment on May 15, 2025, in which it adopted the request for review of the court decision and overturned the judgment of the Administrative Court and returned the case to that court for retrial and decision-making. The proceedings before the Administrative Court on the lawsuit filed against the decision of the Ministry of Ecology have not yet been completed. The court did not accept the plaintiff's allegations that he was authorized to terminate the concession contract due to the interruption of the procedure for approving the construction of small hydropower plants," the explanatory statement of the judgment states.

The court states that the termination of the construction application under the concession contract is not a specific reason for unilateral termination. It also adds that the fact that the state has not decided on BBH's request for an extension of the deadline for the construction of the first phase of the project is not grounds for terminating the contract.

Following the ruling, the Ministry of Economy notified BBH in late May 2018 that they must obtain a building permit for “Slatina” and that if they fail to meet the requirements for the first two phases of the project, the state may terminate the contract. “BBH” requested an extension of the first phase that month because the expropriation had not been completed, while the Ministry of Economy notified them in July that they must pay 52.874 euros to purchase the plots.

The money was paid in April 2020, while the Commercial Court determined that the deadlines for the first phase of the project had been missed, but "BBH" had submitted all bank guarantees and the state had not breached the contract, thus the concession remains in force.

In May 2015, “BBH” requested the then Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism to obtain urban planning and technical conditions (UTU) for the construction of a small hydropower plant. The department, which was then headed by Branimir Gvozdenović, rejected their requests, explaining that no hydrological research had been conducted for the Slatina River watercourse, emphasizing that a site study was necessary. In early 2017, “BBH” resubmitted requests for UTU, which were subsequently issued.

Vlada Duško Marković then made a decision to determine the public interest in the expropriation of plots for the construction of the small hydroelectric power plant "Slatina", which provided that the Real Estate Administration would expropriate 600 square meters of land owned by old-town families in the cadastral municipality of Raško-Mioska and thus enable the implementation of the project.

In December 2020, "BBH" submitted an application to the urban planning and construction inspection for the construction of "Slatina", after which the inspector suspended the verification process of the submitted construction application, explaining that it was awaiting the completion of the procedure for controlling the procedure and legality of the concluded concession contracts for small hydropower plants by the working group formed at the Ministry of Capital Investments.

In May of the same year, the Ministry of Ecology, headed by Ratko Mitrović, rejects the appeal of “BBH” and confirms the decision of the urban planning and construction inspector. The Government Zdravka Krivokapića In mid-January 2021, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources gave its consent to suspend the approval process for the construction of small hydropower plants, including "Slatina".