The salt packing line that was owned by the Saltworks "Bajo Sekulić" from Ulcinj ended up on the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is shown by the data submitted by the Customs Administration to the Center for the Protection and Study of Birds (CZIP). That the salt packing plant entered Bosnia and Herzegovina was confirmed to "Vijesta" by the Indirect Tax Administration there.
They also said that the import procedure for customs clearance was completed at the Tuzla customs office, and that the importer of the second-hand line for packing salt is the company Bingo doo. The company, whose owner is the Bosnian businessman Senad Džambic, did not answer to "Vijesta" whether the packing plant is still owned by them. In the Tuzla Saltworks, for which the employees of the Ulcinj Saltworks claimed that the packing plant ended up with them, they denied that they had bought any machines in recent months - both from Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"Vijesti" announced at the beginning of January that the salt packing line of the Ulcinj Saltworks was sold at a price of 42 euros. The packing plant, as bankruptcy administrator Žarko Ostojić said at the time, was sold to the "Recycling Center" from Nikšić.
Aleksandar Mitrović, the representative of the former workers of the Saltworks in Ulcinj, said earlier that the line for packing salt was paid 1,2 million euros and that it was new. He also said that it is not known when and where the sale was advertised. After the salt packing line was sold, the workers asked the bankruptcy administration for full information about the price of the packing plant. Mitrović then said that the packing plant ended up in Tuzla.
"I repeat, my sources say that the packing plant ended up in Tuzla, not in Nikšić. I personally made sure that it was taken out by trucks with BiH license plates and that the drivers were citizens of our neighbor. Proof of this exists at the gate of the saltworks with all the data," Mitrović said earlier.
The executive director of the "Recycling Center" Zdravko Jeknić said that they are a customer of the packaging company, but also that as a private company they see no special reason for commercial details and information from their business to be available to the general public.
"Especially in terms of who, when, at what price and why we bought something, and to whom, when, at what price and why we sold something. DOO "Centar za reciklažu" Nikšić bought the subject line for packing salt, from AD "Solana Bajo Sekulić" in bankruptcy from Ulcinj, in a legal way, in an absolutely legal procedure, and for all the details about this sale, you can contact the bankruptcy administration of the seller ", said Jeknić to "Vijesta".
Between two decisions
The bankruptcy administrator, however, said that he had already said everything in his reaction on January 9 and that the further story is being conducted, but - without him.
"It is true that on December 15, 12, after a publicly conducted sale procedure (previously published 2020 public invitations), I made a Decision to accept the offer of the bidder 'Centar za reciklažu' DOO from Nikšić, by which, in the legally prescribed procedure, I the sale of the salt packing line for the amount of EUR 15, to which there were no objections from the creditors, any participant in the proceedings or interested parties", Ostojić stated in his response in January, adding that the salt packing line " was anything but 'almost unpacked' or 'canned'", and that in 42.350,00 the authorized appraisers performed a reassessment of the value of the bankruptcy estate, stating that its "technological life has expired", and that in the assessment from November 2018, the revaluation value was estimated at of recyclable raw materials.
"Which is significantly lower than the price achieved in the sales procedure in question", stated Ostojić.
The decision on the selection of the "Recycling Center" as the most favorable bidder for the purchase of part of the assets of the Ulcinj Saltworks, specifically the rolling stock, tools and small inventory, as well as recycling raw materials, including the packing plant 10/1 and 5/1, which was submitted to "Vijesti" , was titled on April 5, 2019.
The decision states that the buyer - "Centar za reciklažu" Nikšić, should have paid 137 euros per ton for the recyclable raw materials, according to the offer. The initial price, according to the ad published in "Dnevni novine" on March 11, 2019, was 130 euros per ton.
The ad also states that the property advertised as segment II, which also refers to recycled raw materials, is "sold individually and in its entirety". According to the ad, the bankruptcy trustee was obliged to display the individual property lists on the notice boards of the Commercial Court and the bankruptcy debtor, i.e. Saltworks "Bajo Sekulić".
The bankruptcy administrator referred the editorial office to the Commercial Court. The Commercial Court, upon inquiry about the specific ad, referred the editorial office to the bankruptcy administration of Solana.
The editors received from other sources the decision on the selection of the most favorable bidder, for the advertisement dated March 11, 2019, as well as the text of the part of the advertisement that refers to the list of assets from segment II of that advertisement, which refers to recycling raw materials, vehicle fleet and tools and small inventory.
In the decision on the selection of the most favorable bidder, which "Vijesti" had access to, it is also written that "the declared buyer is obliged to provide prior notification during each individual removal of recyclable raw materials".
"And the presence of at least two persons, authorized by the bankrupt debtor, in order to measure the recyclable raw materials, and submit the data to the professional services of the bankrupt debtor, for the purpose of recording and invoicing the delivery of recyclable raw materials," the decision reads.
In the explanation of the decision, it is also stated that the "Recycling Center" with a price of 137 euros per ton of recyclable raw materials, offered 35.100 euros for tools and small inventory and 21.300 euros for the vehicle fleet and construction machines. At the same time, as he writes, an offer from "Štit Company", also from Nikšić, arrived. That company, as stated in the explanation of the decision, offered 173 euros per ton for recycling raw materials, while they offered 20.500 euros for tools and small inventory, and 13.001 euros for rolling stock and construction machinery.
"When selecting the most favorable bidder, the bankruptcy administrator evaluated the offers for individual items of sale determined in segment II, thus bringing into relation all the details of the offer in relation to the advertised property, and according to the criteria of the offered prices in relation to the object of sale, so according to these criteria, he estimated that "The offer of the selected bidder is the most favorable, and under the stated circumstances, the bankruptcy administrator decided that the company 'Centar za reciklažu' doo Nikšić should be declared the most favorable bidder, and at the same time the buyer," says the explanation of the decision of the bankruptcy administrator Žarko Ostojić.
It left Montenegro before the New Year, cleared customs in Bosnia and Herzegovina on January 4
"Centar za reciklažu" from Nikšić is the buyer of the salt packing line, but the packing plant left Montenegro and ended up in Tuzla. This is confirmed by the response of the Customs Administration, which sent a request for free access to information from the Center for the Protection and Study of Birds. In the document that "Vijesti" had access to, it is stated that on December 30 and 31, 2020, the export customs clearance of the second-hand line for packing salt (phase I, II and III) was carried out at the Nikšić customs office.
A few days later, during the New Year holidays, the packing house was cleared by customs in Tuzla.
"By reviewing the data in the information system of the Administration for Indirect Taxation, we found the import of goods into Bosnia and Herzegovina from Montenegro, on January 04, 01, under tariff code 2021 8422 40 with the description 'Other packaging or wrapping machines (including machines for foil packaging) * SALT PACKAGING LINE (used). The import procedure for customs clearance was completed at the customs office in Tuzla, and the importer is the company Bingo DOO Tuzla Bosanska Poljana bb", said Ratko Kovačević, head of the department for communications and international cooperation in the Directorate for Indirect Taxation of BiH, in his reply to "News".
He also said that data on the financial amounts of goods that taxpayers import into BiH and export from BiH are secret and protected, and directed the editorial office to the importer of the goods.
Trade secrets, then silence
Senad Džambic's company Bingo was founded in 1993, it is a retail chain, and the owner is, according to the media of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the richest people in that country. In addition to trade, as it says on the official website, the group also includes other activities and industries - the industry of detergents and household products, the production of flips, chips, pasta, spices and soups, the textile industry, the furniture industry, the production of paper confections, breweries, production gravel, production and use of renewable energy sources...
Recently, according to the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina, they put into operation "the most modern poultry breeding station and an incubator station for raising one-day-old chicks", and they also announced that for this year they have made arrangements with neighboring countries, among which is Montenegro, and that the Serbian market will produce half a million chickens for that.
From the company Bingo, to the inquiry of "Vijesti" about the salt packaging line, they responded with the announcement that some answer may follow, but after that - nothing.
"I would have to check with the procurement department, but it is certainly a corporate rule that we do not answer questions that fall under the domain of business secrets," states the answer signed by Tatjana Paunoski, who manages the marketing department at Senad Džambic's company.
They did not respond to an additional request to provide answers to those questions that may fall outside the scope of trade secrets and to confirm whether Bingo doo is the importer of the salt packing line from Montenegro, and whether the packing plant is still owned by that company.
"Vijesti" sent an inquiry about the salt packing line to Solana Tuzla. The director of the Tuzla Saltworks, Bakir Smailagić, claims, however, that they have not traded any machines in recent months - neither from suppliers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor from Montenegro.
How much did the package really cost?
The bankruptcy administrator of Solana Ulcinj previously said that the claims of the workers' representative that the salt packing line was paid 1,2 million were not correct, but that it, "according to the available data, was purchased... for the amount of 537,7 thousand euros, from the Slovenian company 'Zlatorog' oprema' doo, under contract no. 1156/2008 of June 3, 6".
In the list of recyclable raw materials that accompanies the advertisement from March 11, 2019, when the sale of part of the property of the "Bajo Sekulić" Saltworks was advertised for the fifteenth time, in the section entitled "salt packing line", the packing plant 10/1 and 5/1, and more ten items, including the iodization line, thermal tunnel, InJet marker. Each item is marked with a 2007 mark.
For Jovanić, the bankrupt's intention to sell state land is fine
Since on March 11, 2019, it announced the 15th tender for the sale of the Solana property, and included in the advertisement more than 15 million square meters of state land on which the company from Ulcinj claims the right of use, but not the right of ownership, the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) already in April of the same year, she filed a complaint with the Commercial Court against the work of bankruptcy trustee Žarko Ostojić. With the same explanation - that he also advertised for sale state land that Solana had the right to use only while it was producing salt, four NGOs filed a criminal complaint against Ostojić.
The President of the Commercial Court, Blažo Jovanić, rejected the complaint of MANS, and due to the suspicion that he abused his official position by such action and failure to perform his duty, that NGO also filed a criminal complaint against Jovanić.
Complaints were also filed against those responsible for the Property Administration, the Real Estate Administration and the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro.
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