The question of the future of the energy sector is a matter of survival for Montenegro, said Prof. Dr. Branko Radulović, urging the Special State Prosecutor to reexamine the situation in the energy sector. He described the state of the energy sector as catastrophic, stating that Montenegro will soon be without the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant and accused “President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik of underestimating us by seizing our waters in the Bileća Lake.” Radulović warned that the lack of vision in the energy sector will lead Montenegro to a situation where, instead of having a large surplus of electricity and profits of several billion euros in five to six years, it will have an electricity deficit worth several hundred million euros.
He called on the Chief Special Prosecutor, Vladimir Novović, to thoroughly reexamine the situation in the energy sector due to well-founded suspicions of organized crime in many activities.
“I also call on him to intensify the proceedings regarding criminal charges I have filed due to well-founded suspicions of organized crime related to the so-called reconstruction of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant (TPP) and the construction of the Komarnica Hydroelectric Power Plant (HE), for which he has already issued an order to conduct an investigation against certain individuals,” Radulović stated.
He appealed to the Special State Prosecutor to review the manner in which permits for the construction of solar fields and wind parks are issued, emphasizing that it is done in an extremely illegal and non-transparent manner, causing damages to the state estimated at several billion euros.
Radulović described the state of the energy sector as catastrophic, stating that the Pljevlja TPP is about to shut down, and the energy lobby is building solar fields and wind parks in a colonial manner, depleting our limited potentials. He criticized the construction of the Komarnica and Kruševo HPPs, considering them existential and techno-economic mistakes, with no new sustainability and energy mechanisms in sight.
According to Radulović, the government and parliamentary majority are doing nothing to stop accelerated negative trends and mitigate their harmful consequences or achieve partial positive effects. He believes that the continuity of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) policy is maintained, leading to not only a loss of enormous revenue but also resulting in an electricity deficit, ecological problems, growing social issues, and inflation.
Radulović pointed out another major exploitation in the energy sector involving the grabbing of vast land areas and the construction of large solar fields and wind parks in numerous locations throughout Montenegro, from Cetinje to Rožaje.
