The company “Montenegro Bonus”, through the authorized Iustitia Law Firm and attorney Dr. Vladan Bojić, has filed a criminal complaint against Oleg Deripaska, Milo Đukanović, Igor Lukšić, Aleksandar Kašćelan, Vladimir Kavarić and Srđan Kovačević on suspicion of abuse of office and organized criminal activity in connection with the electricity supply of the Podgorica Aluminium Plant (KAP).
The complaint states that a suspicious financial scheme from 2012 caused damage of tens of millions of euros to the state budget for the purpose of obtaining unlawful benefits for private entities.
The criminal complaint, which the RTCG Portal had access to, states that the company “Montenegro Bonus” was forced to take on the role of an intermediary and pay for the electricity consumed by KAP, which never reimbursed it, thereby knowingly putting state property at risk. The complaint includes allegations of abuse of office and organized criminal activity aimed at obtaining unlawful benefits for private entities.
The criminal complaint names: Oleg Deripaska, a Russian citizen, who through the ownership and management structure effectively and legally controlled the Podgorica Aluminium Plant (KAP) during the relevant period. Then, Milo Đukanović – Prime Minister of Montenegro from December 4, 2012, under whose leadership the Government exercised founding and management powers over “Montenegro Bonus” and regulated relations between KAP, “Montenegro Bonus” and EPCG. Igor Lukšić, who was Prime Minister of Montenegro during 2012, when the mechanism for supplying KAP through “Montenegro Bonus” was established. The complaint also names Vladimir Kavarić – then Minister of Economy in the Government of Montenegro, Aleksandar Kašćelan, then executive director of “Montenegro Bonus” LLC Cetinje, who, as the legal representative, directly participated in accepting and implementing the contractual model and assuming multimillion-euro obligations, and Srđan Kovačević, then chairman of the Board of Directors of “Elektroprivreda Crne Gore” (EPCG) AD Nikšić.
In addition to them, the complaint also covers other, as yet unidentified individuals – senior public officials, civil servants and responsible persons in the Government of Montenegro, the relevant ministries, “Montenegro Bonus”, EPCG, KAP, CGES, the energy regulatory agency and other institutions and companies, whose identities and individual actions will be determined during the preliminary investigation.
The criminal complaint explains that in the second half of 2012, the Podgorica Aluminium Plant (KAP), under the control of Oleg Deripaska, owed Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) more than 40.7 million euros, which prompted EPCG to announce a complete suspension of electricity deliveries as of October 1, 2012.
In order to prevent the shutdown of KAP’s production cells, and at the expense of state property, the state officials and responsible persons in the companies named in the complaint, according to the filing, hastily “inserted” the 100-percent state-owned company “Montenegro Bonus” as a formal intermediary.
The mechanism worked by having “Montenegro Bonus” purchase electricity from EPCG, incur debt for it, and then directly supply it to KAP, which never paid for that electricity. As stated, “Montenegro Bonus” was thus grossly instrumentalized and used as a free and uncollectible means of payment to maintain KAP’s private production.
The complainants are demanding an investigation and a financial forensic examination in order to determine the precise damage and the responsibility of all participants in this, as they described it, harmful arrangement.
The evidence submitted by the Law Firm, as stated, indicates that state institutions and companies were instrumentalized in order to cover the private investor’s debts at the expense of the public interest.
Đukanović’s Role
Then-Prime Minister Milo Đukanović is accused in the criminal complaint of having, as a co-perpetrator or through one of the forms of complicity, committed the aggravated form of the criminal offense of abuse of office under Article 416, Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro.
He is accused of having, in his capacity as Prime Minister of Montenegro, which he led from December 4, 2012, under his leadership the Government exercise founding and management powers over the 100-percent state-owned company “Montenegro Bonus” and actively participate in the harmful regulation of relations between KAP, “Montenegro Bonus” and EPCG.
He is accused of knowingly and deliberately participating, together with the other individuals named in the complaint, in maintaining and extending the mechanism in which “Montenegro Bonus” served as a formal intermediary for supplying KAP with electricity.
According to the complaint, this arrangement was implemented and extended even though Đukanović and the Government were fully aware that KAP was insolvent, that its debt to EPCG had already exceeded 40.7 million euros before this model was introduced, and that KAP would neither pay nor be able to pay for the electricity supplied to it by “Montenegro Bonus”.
He is accused of using his position and powers to enable the state property and resources of “Montenegro Bonus” to be abused as a “free means of payment” to maintain production at the privately controlled KAP, under the control of Oleg Deripaska.
This provided Deripaska’s structures with unlawful financial benefit, namely the continuation of operations and free electricity, while “Montenegro Bonus” suffered direct multimillion-euro damage – more than 10 million euros in the disputed quarter, or approximately 25 million euros in today’s purchasing power.
The complaint points to suspicions that through Government conclusions, such as those from November 2012 and subsequent periods, the transfer of private debt onto the state budget and the property of “Montenegro Bonus” was knowingly coordinated and enabled, without any realistic possibility of collecting the security instruments.
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Source: Nova.rs, Foto: Printscreen YouTube / Al Jazeera Balkans
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