The civic movement URA has filed an additional criminal complaint with the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) against officials of the Electric Power Company of Montenegro (EPCG) and the Ministry of Energy for, as they stated, the illegal commissioning of the Thermal Power Plant, which led to extreme air pollution in Pljevlja, which endangered the health of citizens.
An amended criminal complaint was filed against EPCG officials Ljubiša Janković, Slavenko Drobnjak, Olga Radulović, Miro Vračar, Ljubiša Đurković, Bojan Đordan, the President of the Board of Directors of EPCG Milutin Đukanović, the Minister of Energy Admir Šahmanović and other unidentified persons.
"The amended criminal complaint states that they acted contrary to the provisions of the Law on Construction of Facilities, the Constitution of Montenegro, the Law on Environment, the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment, the Law on Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment, the Law on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control by illegally granting consent for the commissioning of part of the TPP 'Pljevlja' facility on 28.11.2025, because in order to issue a decision for trial operation, it was necessary to complete all facilities listed in the construction permit issued by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism on 26 May 2020, and as it was necessary to first obtain the consent of the electricity inspection, construction inspection, and ecological inspection for water for the facility as a whole, which was also stated in the Record of Inspection No. UP IN-01-724/25-19/3 of 11.12.2025 by Thermal Energy Inspector Miloš Kovačević, whereby persons with direct intent were reported "They committed criminal offenses: abuse of official position, in conjunction with the criminal offense of environmental pollution," the URA announced.
The party emphasizes that the goal and intent of the applicants was to violate legal provisions, contrary to all prescribed provisions, illegally grant approval and put the Pljevlja thermal power plant into operation, and thus seriously violate the rights of citizens through severe environmental pollution.
"We live in a time of power where everything we fought against during the former regime is being farcically repeated, only now with different faces and names. People who were supposedly great fighters for the rule of law are now often doing the same, and sometimes worse, things than those done by officials of the former regime, all of which leaves deep traces and serious consequences for society and the state. The wheel of change set in motion on August 30, 2020 must not be stopped by replacements," URE states.
"Due to armchair interests, responsible persons in EPCG and the Ministry of Energy have, through force and shame, knowingly put the health of the citizens of Pljevlja at risk, and for that they must bear responsibility," the statement reads.
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