The Municipality of Pljevlja will appeal the verdict of the Court of Appeal, which recently, in a repeated procedure, decided that the Coal Mine is not obligated to pay it 2,37 million euros for failure to comply with the Contract on Compensation for Development of Construction Land, signed about twenty years ago.
This was confirmed by the mayor of the municipality to "Vijesti". Dario Vranes.
The Court of Appeals decided on this in a retrial after the Supreme Court in November last year approved the request of the Coal Mine for a review of the judgment of the Court of Appeals, which ordered the largest Pljevlja company to pay 2,37 million euros to the Municipality of Pljevlja.
"There are serious indications that the Supreme Court's ruling is politically motivated. In some segments, the state continues to act stepmotherly towards Pljevlja, viewing our city only as a coal mine. It is clear that the Municipality of Pljevlja has been damaged in this marathon procedure, but also that someone is clearly prolonging the payment of damages. In any case, we will protect the interests of the Municipality," said Vraneš.
When asked by "Vijesti" to clarify what he specifically meant when he said that the verdict was politically motivated, or whether the former or current regime had an influence on its adoption, Vranes answered briefly: "both."
The marathon dispute between the municipality and Rudnik lasted almost 12 years, and after the previous verdict became final, Rudnik paid the entire amount of the debt to the local administration on July 1 last year, although it had previously requested to settle the obligation in installments.
After the Supreme Court approved the revision of the previous ruling of the Court of Appeal and returned the case for re-determination, the Municipality returned the money to Rudnik in November.
The leaders of the Municipality of Rudnik signed an agreement in mid-August 2004, which determined the fee for participation in the costs of development of the construction land, which the Mine was supposed to pay for the implementation of the multi-million project of relocating the Ćehotina River and opening the Cementara mine. The Mine committed itself to the agreement to finance the development of part of the planning and project documentation and to invest in works on a part of the facilities, using the fee for development of the construction land.
Given that Rudnik did not settle its obligations within the stipulated period, the Municipality filed a lawsuit, and during the 12 years of the trial, several verdicts were rendered, some of which were in favor of the state-owned company.
In the repeated proceedings, the Court of Appeal obliged the Coal Mine to, in order to fulfill its obligations under the Contract on Compensation for Development of Construction Land, finance investment works related to the regulation of the Breznica River bed over a length of 600 meters and the deepening of the Ćehotina River bed in the unregulated section over a length of 3,5 kilometers, within two years from the date of receipt of the judgment under threat of execution.
The court rejected all other claims of the Municipality.
The municipality requested that the Coal Mine undertake to finance the project documentation related to the development of the main design of the wastewater treatment plant in Židovići as a continuation of the completed conceptual design and the development of the main design for the purification of water from the Otilovići reservoir as part of the facility on Pliješa, in order to fulfill the obligations under the Contract on Compensation for Development of Construction Land.
The request for Rudnik to finance investment works related to the execution of works on the remaining part of the fecal collector to the planned location of the wastewater plant in Židovići, the execution of works on the main drinking water supply of the high and low zones, the execution of works on the facilities of the new plant on Pliješa, the purification of water from the Otilovići reservoir as part of the facility on Pliješa, which, according to the preliminary design, may relate to the replacement of equipment, automation and all installations at the existing plant, the construction of new filter fields and the expansion of reservoir capacity by building new reservoirs for the high and low zones with complete equipment. The request for the execution of works on the secondary collector from Podgoričke Street along the right bank of the Breznica River to the main collector in a length of 325 meters and the execution of works on the implementation of the fecal sewage project in the area of the Ševari local community was also rejected.
In the reasoning of the judgment, the Court of Appeal stated that the court found that the claim was well-founded in the part relating to the defendant's obligation to finance investment works related to the regulation of the Breznica river bed and the deepening of the Ćehotina river bed because the Mine did not provide evidence that it had fulfilled its contractual obligation relating to these unrealized works.
"Regarding the other works, the plaintiff himself claimed during the second-instance proceedings, which was also confirmed by the expert examination by the construction expert OM (supplement to the findings and opinion dated 17.11.2023), and was not refuted by the defendant, that a part of the project documentation and investment works that were the defendant's contractual obligation under the contract in question were carried out in the meantime and that they were financed by the plaintiff, or other authorities... Since these works were indisputably carried out and paid for, the plaintiff's claim, by which he requested that the defendant be obliged to finance these works in accordance with the Contract on Compensation for Development of Construction Land, is shown to be unfounded. In this regard, the fact that the plaintiff insisted on that these works were carried out after the filing of the lawsuit, or during the court proceedings, is irrelevant, because the court makes a decision based on the state of affairs at the time of the conclusion of the main hearing," the explanatory statement of the verdict states.
The court also believes that the Municipality of Pljevlja cannot claim 2,372 million euros from Rudnik for the work performed in this proceeding.
"Considering the legal position expressed in the decision of the Supreme Court of Montenegro Rev.Ip.br.18/24 of 14.10.2024, the stated amount of money (2.372.844,73 euros) paid by the plaintiff for the work performed that was the subject of the claim and which was the defendant's contractual obligation, the plaintiff cannot claim in these proceedings, since in the first instance proceedings he regulated the claim and determined the performance of the act. The plaintiff could possibly recover the amount he paid for the work that was the defendant's contractual obligation from the defendant in another court proceeding," the judgment of the Court of Appeal states, among other things.
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