Instead of about 300.000 euros, which was charged annually on average due to environmental pollution, the state should collect about 1,2 million from polluters this year, in the name of regular and arrears fees. After establishing a register of polluters and introducing a series of information solutions in early 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expects that in the coming period the records of polluters and the collection of eco-charges for pollution will be of better quality.
"The EPA is controlling the collection of debts from an earlier period on the basis of issued decisions, in coordination with the Administration of Revenue and Customs, the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, the Eco Fund, as well as in cooperation with the Administration for Inspection Affairs, i.e. environmental inspection, obtained data on unpaid fees. Namely, a total of 32 taxpayers in principle settle their obligations on the basis of the calculated eco-fees, with the extension of the payment deadline as well as the possibility of payment in installments, they told "Vijesta".
In the name of eco-fees, all polluters are obliged to pay around 2021 million euros in 1,2. The EPA said that they have been paid a little more than half a million so far. They added that the biggest debtors are Kombinat aluminum Podgorica, i.e. "Uniprom", which manages KAP, and "Tosčelik" Ironworks from Nikšić.
"Uniprom" owes EUR 833.121,24 for pollution based on calculated and corrected solutions, and so far, for two solutions, it has paid less than EUR 138. Due to the issued decisions on the collection of the eco-fee for last year, and for 2016 and 2017, the owner of KAP Veselin Pejović a few days ago he threatened the director of the EPA Milan Gazdić.
The Agency told "Vijesta" that in the past years, this type of record was not accessed "in a sufficiently professional and satisfactory manner", that the systematization did not provide for someone to deal with solutions, and they announce that from January 1, the polluter register will begin to be applied, that the register will also contain a database on pollutant emissions and provide the public with access to information about the environment.
The recommendation to establish a register of environmental polluters was sent to the Agency in mid-May by the State Audit Institution (DRI), through the audit of the success of the "Efficiency of the mechanism of regulation, monitoring and reporting on air quality in Montenegro". Registers had to be established at the local level, and a cadastre of polluters at the central level. As the SAI audit stated, among other things, that the EPA does not have data on the amount of environmental fees collected in the period from 2017 to 2020, as well as adequate records of issued decisions, it was recommended to establish adequate records of decisions and the amount of environmental fees collected.
The recommendations refer to the period when he was at the head of the EPA Nikola Medenica.
When asked about the reasons why the records on the amount of the eco-fee collected and the issued solutions were not valid for the period indicated in the audit of the SAI's success, the EPA said that there were no conditions for "adequate input, analysis, processing, as well as proper transparency of data ”, and that "there was not even an act on the systematization of workplaces as a description of the obligations of official positions, which would deal with the adoption of solutions and the establishment of an adequate mechanism and database".
The Law on the Environment, as they clarified, stipulates that the Cadastre of environmental pollutants contains data on the sources, type, quantity, method and place of discharge, transfer and disposal of polluting substances and waste into the environment.
"Cadastre of polluters is maintained by the Agency, and polluters are obliged to submit data on the release of polluting substances to the Agency by March 31 of the current year for the previous year. According to the previous legal solution, polluters were obliged to submit data on the release of polluting substances to the municipalities, which maintained the Local Cadastres of Pollutants. The collected data were submitted to the Agency. According to the above, the EPA has this data at its disposal since 2009. However, due to the lack of an adequate software application that would enable adequate input, analysis, processing, as well as orderly transparency of data, during the control of the work of the SAI on the audit of the success of the 'Efficiency of the mechanism of regulation, monitoring and reporting on air quality in Montenegro', there was no concrete record of issued decisions in the Agency. Decisions were also issued in 2017, as well as in the later period, based on submitted reports, but not in the scope that we subsequently determined", they explained to "Vijesta".
They also added that, in relation to the recommendations of international organizations and established facts, that issue "was not approached in a sufficiently professional and satisfactory manner".
As they said, they will try to correct the lack of staff by adopting a new Rulebook on the internal organization and systematization of workplaces.
They also add that a working group has been formed to establish a pollutant register at the EPA level, and that activities are ongoing for the purpose of establishing and precisely defining the Pollutant Register (PRTR) with a database of pollutant emissions.
"Which would effectively provide public access to information about the environment, as well as the development of modern IT tools such as adequate storage and statistical processing of data, online submission of applications for registration in the register, support for establishing a secure connection with EU databases, as well as identification of all potential industrial pollutants. As part of the Register of Polluters, whose implementation is planned from January 1, the module for submitting data for the calculation of eco-fees is planned to be refined, with the aim of ensuring regular updating of data and the creation of adequate records of adopted solutions", said "Vijesti".
The adoption of the Decision on the amount of fees, the method of calculation and payment of fees due to environmental pollution, the annual eco-fee for combustion plants with an input power of less than 1mw is in progress. list of pollutants.
"Eco-fees due to environmental pollution, which are paid according to the 'polluter pays' principle, we value as extremely important, given that the financing of the Environmental Protection Fund is provided from eco-fees, loans, donations and aid, programs and funds of the European Union, the United Nations and international organizations and other sources in accordance with the law, for the purpose of solving priority tasks, such as the preparation and implementation of development programs and projects at the state and local level on the topic of preservation, sustainable use, protection and improvement of the environment, preservation biological, geological and environmental diversity and rational use of natural resources and energy as basic conditions for sustainable development, and realization of citizens' right to a healthy environment", said the EPA.
The SAI also pointed out the obligation of "Uniprom"
For the purposes of the audit of success, the SAI reviewed with the EPA the adopted decisions for the payment of eco-fees in the period from 2017 to 2020, and with the Revenue Administration and the Eco Fund, the data on the amount of collected funds. It was established that the EPA does not have data on the amount of the eco-fee charged for the observed period, nor does it have the appropriate record of issued decisions.
"By looking at the submitted decisions, it can be concluded that they were adopted on the basis of the data submitted by the polluters themselves, for a period of several months to a year, as well as that they were adopted for a period in advance... The data submitted by the Revenue Administration show that some polluters paid the eco-fee, but the Agency did not submit solutions for the same to the state auditor. The Ministry (Ecology) submitted a decision on the annulment of the Agency's decision against the obligee AD KAP, and in the same, the obligee 'Uniprom' doo Nikšić was listed as the user of the facility. "On the basis of the adopted decisions, 'Uniprom' initiated a dispute with the competent court, however, the court rejected the lawsuits and ordered the obligee 'Uniprom' to pay the eco-fee", says the audit of the SAI.
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