At the end of 2022, the health institution of the Pharmacy of Montenegro "Montefarm" took over the debt of the medical wholesaler Medicalana in the amount of 80.000 euros to a commercial bank, although at that time, according to the documentation, it did not have any debts to that private company.
This results from the findings of the State Audit Institution (DRI), which last week published the audit of the Annual Financial Report of "Montefarm" for 2022 and the compliance of business operations with laws, regulations and other acts.
The SAI gave a positive opinion on the annual financial report of "Montefarm", and a negative opinion on the regularity of operations, which is why the audit was submitted to the prosecutor's office.
The SAI stated in the report that the cession agreement was concluded without complete, credible financial documentation, that is, that payment by cession should be preceded by a debtor-creditor relationship.
From "Montefarm", which he manages Goran Marinović, say that they concluded the cession contract with a private wholesaler solely to "preserve the institution's liquidity and distribute the money at their disposal". They point out that they took over the private debt in order to pay in installments for the goods that were supposed to be delivered in 2023.
Assignment without debtor-creditor relationship
In the SAI report, it is stated that the condition for implementing a form of payment such as cession is the creation of a debtor-creditor relationship, which means that already due claims and obligations are settled in this way. The audit, however, found that in Article 1 of the Assignment Agreement between Montefarma, Lovćen banka and the wholesaler Medicalana as a supplier that cedes part of its claims from Montefarma based on the contract on the public procurement of medicines and medical devices dated June 22, 2022 and the Agreement on the public procurement of medical devices, infusion solutions and preparations for parenteral and enteral administration from November 20, 2022 in favor of the bank, in order to collect claims from the loan agreement dated December 27 of the same year, concluded in the amount of EUR 80.000.
The loan agreement was to be repaid in equal monthly installments between Medicalan and the bank, while on the day of signing the cession agreement "Montefarm" had no obligations towards that private company. The SAI report says that this can be seen from the analytical cards and open items.
The report also emphasized that the SAI asked Montefarma for a detailed, written statement regarding the aforementioned assignment.
"The responsible persons in the subject of the audit do not deny that during the conclusion of the cession agreement there was no debtor-creditor relationship between Medicalana doo and ZUACG 'Montefarm', which was stated in the analytical accounting cards, but there were contracts signed under public tenders for the delivery of goods that were expected in 2023", states, among other things, in the report.
The DRI states that Montefarm submitted evidence - an order for posting the cession, analytical cards that show Montefarm's obligation to the bank and that they paid the assumed debt by months, in installments.
"Cession contracts must be fully documented with credible financial documentation that proves that a debtor-creditor relationship has arisen, and every financial transaction must be properly documented as a basis for postings and payments," states the SAI in its recommendations.
They pointed out that the Law on Obligations, in articles 445 to 455, regulates the assignment of claims (assignment), and specifically article 450 paragraph 1 obligates the assignor to hand over to the receiver a bond or other debt document, if any, as well as other evidence of assigned claim and secondary rights.
Montefarm: The contract served for deferred payment
Medicalana concluded the loan agreement with the commercial bank on December 27, 2022, while the cession agreement, as "Montefarm" informed "Vijesta", was signed on the same date.
"Vijesti" asked "Montefarm" what was the basis for concluding the cession agreement, what date was it signed and whether it served to settle the existing obligations from the loan agreement between Medicalan and the bank or as a guarantee for the emergence of new obligations of the private company to financial institution.
"The basis for signing the Assignment Agreement between Montefarm, Lovćen banka and Medicalana was the settlement of obligations in six equal monthly installments, in order to preserve liquidity and adequately distribute the funds at our disposal, which are intended for payments to suppliers. Since we had the goods from the aforementioned supplier available at all times in the amount of the monthly installment, in this way we postponed the payments from 90 to 180 days based on the already signed contracts No. 7-1722 dated 22/6/2022 and 8a-4822 dated 30/11/2022, in accordance with the conducted tender procurement, for the delivery of the expected goods in 2023, which was confirmed through the submitted documentation to the auditors of the SAI", replied Montefarma.
They concluded that any further communication, as well as the obligations of Medicalana and the bank, do not concern that institution, and that they have no information about whether the contract served to settle existing obligations from the loan agreement or as a guarantee for new obligations. They also stated that "they have no real need to be informed about the operations of one of the many drugstores from which they make purchases based on public tender procedures."
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