At the conference of the "Peace is our nation" coalition, it was said that the company Comp comerc, which is owned by Ranko Jovović, was given a number of legally impermissible benefits in relation to the Onogošt hotel, and that it will initiate legal procedures to review the legality and determine the nullity of the student accommodation contract , which are located in the mentioned hotel.
Momo Koprivica, the vice-president of the Democrats, reminded that the Onogošt hotel was sold to Comp comer in 2006 for one million euros, although it was previously estimated at 16 million, and that the mentioned company received a number of state benefits and privileges on behalf of the hotel, starting with two IRF loan arrangements of 1 and 1,5 million euros, subsidies for the interest rate related to IRF loans in the amount of 30, state aid in the amount of 000 euros, accommodation of four state institutions on the basis of which high rent is paid, as well as a contract on the provision of student accommodation services in a hotel.
"In the wake of those benefits, in the summer of 2016, the owner of this company makes a large monetary donation to DPS. Recently, the same hotel was scandalously qualified as a cultural institution in order to receive budget money in the name of culture. Does any businessman in Nikšić have such privileges and this much unearned income? Is it normal for the state to sell an attractive hotel for nothing, and then help repay the one who bought it, i.e. privatized it? Is it normal for the state to sell a hotel for nothing, and then after that privatization, that hotel lives on state payments," said Koprivica.
The contract on public-private partnership for the provision of student accommodation services, Koprivica claims, represents a classic misuse and circumvention of the legislation of Montenegro. The contract stipulates that accommodation will be provided for 260 students, at least ten months a year, for a period of 20 years, that the fee is 116 euros per student, of which 80 percent is borne by the state and 20 percent by the student, and that if not provided maximum occupancy, it is considered the sole fault of the state, which is then obliged to pay the full price, and if partial occupancy is not provided, the state pays a fixed contractual penalty in the amount of 100.000 euros.
Koprivica claims that the mentioned Agreement was concluded on the basis of the Law on the participation of the private sector in the performance of public services, although it cannot be brought under any of the tasks provided for by law, therefore the Agreement has no basis in law, nor should it have been concluded under the chosen law.
"This contract has no legal basis and as such cannot produce legal consequences, nor remain in force," said the vice-president of the Democrats.
In order to conclude the contract, the approval of the Privatization Council is necessary, and its consent was not requested.
"The Privatization Council has informed us that they have not even been asked for consent, but they are aware that consent for this arrangement has been sought from the Government, but the Government persistently avoids, contrary to the Rules of Procedure, to provide all the requested information. As with every harmful and phantom contract, there are clues," said Koprivica.
According to him, in the public call for the provision of student accommodation services in Nikšić on June 17, 2016, it was stated that the deadline for submitting bids is ten days from the date of publication of the call, and the decision to select the most favorable bid was made on June 24, 2016.
"Unlike the Contract and the Public Call, the Decision cannot be found on the website of the Ministry of Education, nor is the Government delivering it despite our operational request, but it follows from the Contract that the Decision on the selection of the most favorable offer was made before the deadline for submission of offers.
This is an unprecedented act of insolence and nothingness rarely seen.
The question arises: has anyone even evaluated and evaluated the offer? This is proof that this business is a classic set-up," said Koprivica and showed the public invitation and contract for the provision of student accommodation services.
According to him, it is now clear why the government abandoned the construction of a student dormitory in Nikšić, even though land was provided for that purpose.
"It is quite clear that the then Minister Bošković honored the DPS donor with both the contract and the law. They showed that they look at the legislation of Montenegro as a buffet table when the donors of the DPS should be served, and all to the detriment of the state interest", Koprivica concluded.
Ksenija Milović, president of OO Demos Nikšić, said that this is another in a series of examples that show that Nikšić and Montenegro are in the hands of people who deal with public affairs, and that public responsibility is foreign to them.
"Nikšić is the biggest loser of the transition period. The first associations with our city are failed privatizations, layoffs and strikes of disenfranchised workers. Nikšić has not been a happy city to live and work in for a long time. Nor did it succeed as an industrialist, and unfortunately - it doesn't even have a university spirit, despite a large number of study programs...Unfortunately, the main brands of our country are businessmen who, with the help of this kind of government, are creating havoc. "Citizens are in last place, and those mentioned are the least concerned about what kind of associations the mention of their names will evoke in the near future," said Milović.
According to her, it is wild, or neoliberal clientelistic capitalism, applied to local Nikšić conditions.
"There are many problems, and this presented dubious contract is only one in a series, but it is up to us to remind the public and to guarantee that our skills and knowledge, we and all those who were in opposition to this great social chaos, will never be used for destruction, degradation and deterioration of the quality of life, both in Nikšić and in Montenegro. We will initiate legal procedures to review the legality and determine the nullity of this and similar public contracts," said Milović.
Ranko Jovović said in a telephone conversation that he does not want to answer the accusations of the "Peace is our Nation" coalition.
Bonus video:
