The non-governmental organization (NGO) Eko-team, with the support of WWF Adrija (World Organization for Nature), submitted today to the Agency for the Protection of Competition an initiative to assess whether the subsidies paid by consumers for electricity produced from small hydropower plants (MHP) are state aid and whether it is illegal state aid, the two organizations announced today.
The announcement states that the initiative proposes that the Agency initiate an investigation and establish all relevant facts regarding the payment of subsidies, and if it is judged that the subsidies represent illegal state aid, it should be ordered to suspend their further payment.
"In the period from 2014 to the end of 2020, a total of 13 economic entities, which built 25 mHP, received subsidies for the production of electricity from small hydroelectric power plants. The total amount of subsidies paid is 16,04 million euros," it is written in the joint announcement of Eco-team and WWF Adria.
They say that the Initiative states a number of provisions from the Law on State Aid and the Law on Energy, and indicates that earlier the Ministry of Economy had to submit an application to the State Aid Control Commission to assess whether this type of subsidy is state aid.
"According to the Law on the Control of State Aid, illegal state aid is aid that was granted without prior notification or before the Competition Protection Agency's decision on its compliance with the law, while non-compliance exists when the legal conditions are not met", according to the NGO Eko-team and WWF Adria.
They also order that subsidies are paid to producers of electricity from MHP, who have received the status of privileged producers, with which they achieve a competitive advantage on the domestic electricity market.
They also state that from 2019, the end customers pay a part of the subsidies (for consumed electricity over 300 kWh), while the State of Montenegro allocates a part from the revenue, which is realized on the basis of excise duty on fuel (for consumed electricity of 300 kWh), and excise taxes are revenue of the state budget.
"Given the fact that there could soon be as many as 39 mHE on consumers' electricity bills, which will be entitled to subsidies, the Agency for the Protection of Competition would have to react as quickly as possible and undertake activities on the submitted initiative, with the aim of protecting consumers" , said the NGO Eko-team and WWF Adria.
They also state that the first HPP started operating in the middle of 2014 and that year consumers paid 80 subsidies, while the following year 625 were paid.
"In 2016 and 2017, 2,3 million euros were paid each, in 2018 the subsidies were 3,9 million, and in 2019 around 2,8 million. In 2020, the amount reached close to four million," the statement concludes. .
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