While the Italian-Russian consortium Eni-Novatek is conducting exploratory drilling in the Montenegrin seabed, the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) claims that the previous government, headed by Duško Marković, illegally granted the consortium of offshore companies Eni Montenegro and Novatek Montenegro from the Netherlands in mid-March last year approved an extension of the deadline for the completion of oil and gas exploration, instead of activating the mandatory guarantee and collecting damages that could have reached 85 million euros.
Dragica Sekulić, the Minister of Economy at the time, did not answer the question of Television Vijesti for days, whether there is an explanation for such a decision, and MANS is now calling on the competent Ministry of Capital Investments to disclose all the details of the case.
MANS claims that the previous government, contrary to the law, approved an extension of the deadline for the completion of oil and gas exploration in the Montenegrin sea to the consortium of offshore companies Eni Montenegro and Novatek Montenegro from the Netherlands in mid-March last year.
According to MANS, the former government accepted the consortium's groundless explanation that their deadline should be extended due to technical problems.
"However, the documentation shows that this is absolutely not true, that these companies were late, because they did not want to harmonize their operations with Montenegrin laws. That is why they were late with the preparation of studies on environmental protection, because they did not want to respect the standards prescribed by our laws and then that procedure took longer than planned. Another reason for the delay was that those companies stated that their subcontractor dropped out. So, the company they themselves chose to carry out certain obligations from the concession contract for which they are responsible is from some gave up for this reason, and now for that reason the state of Montenegro should bear the consequences. This is completely contrary to both the law and the contract, which provided that in such cases the Government of Montenegro has the right to collect the mandatory guarantee and to activate it in the amount of up to 85 million euros." pointed out Vanja Ćalović Marković, executive director of MANS
The then Government and relevant Ministry of Economy granted this consortium of offshore companies an extension of the deadline, referring to Article 29 of the Law on Exploration and Production of Hydrocarbons, which stipulates that the deadline can be extended under the condition that "the concessionaire has not fulfilled the obligations from the work program due to technical problems that occurred during stages of the research, which could not be predicted, avoided or eliminated".
However, according to the documentation of the Agency for Environmental Protection obtained by MANS, the delay in the preparation of the Elaboration was due to the failure of the oil companies.
Oil companies submitted a request to determine the scope and content of the Elaborate in March 2017, i.e. six months after signing the contract.
The Environmental Protection Agency made a decision within a month and gave them the requested instructions.
Five months later, the companies submit the reports, the Agency conducts a public discussion and after two months, in November 2017, it asks the consortium to supplement that document, so that it is harmonized with Montenegrin laws.
Three months later, the oil companies submit an updated report, but it again does not meet the legally prescribed standards, so the Agency asks them for a new supplement.
Only after three months, the concessionaires finally submit the Elaborate, which the Agency accepts, and a month after the submission it issues a decision.
MANS points out that the only problem of a technical nature mentioned by the consortium is the incident on the ship, but the Government did not determine whether it occurred due to a failure in the work of the companies, or whether it could have been avoided.
Why did the Government of Duško Marković allow the extension of the deadline for this consortium, the then Minister of Economy, and the current MP of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Dragica Sekulić did not answer even though we sent her questions at the beginning of the week.
Therefore, MANS is now calling on the competent Ministry of Capital Investments to shed light on all the details of this case.
"To publish data on the finances of those companies, on the implementation of contractual obligations and the reasons for the delay, as well as data on how those companies provided funds for investing in these businesses and what interest the citizens of Montenegro have in their work," she said. Ćalović Marković.
On May 14, 2020, the Eni and Novatek consortium requested an additional extension of the deadline for the completion of works due to the COVID crisis, which the Government also accepted, so the oil companies are obliged to complete exploratory wells by March 13, 2022.
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