The leader of the Civic Movement URA and the president of the parliamentary Inquiry Committee for collecting information in the Možura affair, Dritan Abazović, said today that he does not remember anyone explicitly saying in front of the cameras that he received 20.000 euros as part of a reward for completing some jobs in Montenegro, and that today's session is a sobering moment for many who claimed that there was no corruption in the Možura case because it was determined that the money was distributed even before the job was officially awarded.
As announced by the URA Police Headquarters, Abazović said that the former famous athlete Vladimir Vanja Popović, who answered questions from MPs today, presented information indicating corruption in this business and that this is enough to launch an investigation by the Special State Prosecutor's Office.
He said that during his testimony before the deputies, Popović stated that the payments, as rewards for the work of building a wind farm, were made several years before the Government of Montenegro signed a contract with the Spanish company "Fers" regarding the construction of the Možura wind farm.
Abazović, ERO added, thanked Popović for his contribution to shedding light on the Možura affair in Montenegro, stating that he presented information that is important for the protection of the public interest.
"Vladimir Popović also spoke today about the role of the former long-time president of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Montenegro, Danilo Popović, and his daughter Milena, who was an authorized person of the investor of the Možura hydroelectric power plant "Ferse", as well as the company BWP Europe Consulting and several other companies involved in the deal," the statement reads.
It is important, Abazović pointed out, that the problem of corruption in the Možura case obviously dates back to the very beginning, namely from the finding of the location where the potential wind farm was to be built, that is, from the moment when the Spanish Fersa decided to enter the Montenegrin market.
"A scheme important for uncovering corruption cannot be ignored: that there was a company BWP, headed by Milena Popović, that she was the director of 'Fersa Montenegro', as well as several other companies, and that in 2015, from that position, without the consent of the Government, she signed a contract to transfer everything to the ownership of Cifidex. If there is no material for SDT here, good luck to the EU and everything that follows. The least that needs to be done is to launch an investigation here," Abazović said at the meeting of the Committee, the formation of which was previously initiated by the Civil Movement URA.
Abazović explained that the BWP company is important because the payments were made before Fersa got the job in Montenegro.
"Today, Vanja Popović said that payments were made in 2007 and 2008, and the contract with the Government was only signed in 2010. That's why it was all a farce. Someone was being paid for work that had not yet been completed, which means that they had firm guarantees that it would be completed. This could not have happened without state authorities. The people who were in power at the time had to make a firm promise that they would start making payments. If you were given 20.000 euros in cash, we have reason to suspect that someone was receiving much more. Regardless of the passage of years, I believe that our banking system has the ability to determine where the payments were made, and the prosecution and the SPO to determine who withdrew the cash and whether they paid taxes to the state. This does not require special knowledge in the field of economic crime," concluded the leader of URE.
Abazović said that it was correct to invite Danilo and Milena Popović, as well as the lawyers who represented the state and companies, to present their opinions and data before the Committee.
"There are three key things we heard today. First, the director of a company that was interested in entering Montenegro was ready to give certain sums before the Government gave its consent. Second, the judiciary accepted Fersa's contracts with companies that do not exist in any register. The third fact is that Danilo Popović, a long-time leader of the SSCG, as president of the Solidarity Construction Fund, built apartments in Bar with the company Čelebić, which had one percent co-ownership in Fersa. Also, when dividing 100 thousand euros among five people, he said that an amount, four times larger than that, was kept in order to complete another, more important job in Montenegro. We are not accusing anyone, the Committee is here to establish the facts," concluded Abazović.
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