Not even seven years have passed since the oil tanks in Bar, Lipci and Bijelo Polje were returned to state ownership, and Montenegro has not taken over the management of these facilities, which causes multimillion-dollar damage and further burdens the operations of the state company Montenegro bonus.
Democrat MP Zdenka Popović believes that we still feel and pay for the wrong and thoughtless decisions related to the privatization of Jugopetrol, which, taking into account profitability, was a generator of the development of the Montenegrin economy.
Not only did Montenegro lose control over the purchase price of oil and its derivatives, but it was also left without valuable strategically important reservoirs in Bar, Lipci and Bijelo Polje from 2002, when Jugopetrol was privatized, until today. Namely, from 2003 to 2016, there was a dispute over the ownership of the reservoirs, even though it was already clear in 2003 that Montenegro had the right to manage oil and oil derivatives storage facilities.
It was then that the state company Montenegro Bonus was founded, which was supposed to be a competitor to Jugopetrol, to manage state assets and to supply oil and oil derivatives to state bodies, public companies and institutions and to have sufficient quantities of oil and derivatives in reserve for life, in the amount which was demanded from Montenegro by the Energy Community – said Popović.
According to her, the Supreme Court ruling from 2016 finally ended the dispute and the reservoir capacities were returned to the state. But despite that fact, the state did not take possession of this strategically important property, but only registered this property in 2017. And that’s where it stopped. This means that even to this day, the issue of reservoir capacities has not been resolved, even though they have been owned by the state for six years, but are not being used, causing millions of damages to the state company Montenegro Bonus. At the same time, Jugopetrol abuses its monopoly position and earns extra profit at the expense of the state – Popović pointed out.
As she added, it is really difficult to understand such carelessness of the state regarding strategically important assets, especially regarding the reservoir in Bar, which with a little investment can be quickly put into operation, and which would facilitate both transportation and storage for Montenegro Bonus and small oil companies when it comes to oil and oil derivatives.
Recently, a consultative hearing was held before the Economic Committee of the Assembly, at which the unfavorable situation in the Montenegro bonus was presented due to the debt from the period of management of KAP, and most of the debts of 11.5 million EUR relate to electricity, 2.3 million owed to CGES, and 3.3 million to KAP based on the reduction of the bankruptcy estate. The former president of the board of directors, Miroslav Ivanišević, then pointed out that this company was threatened with closure, and that Jugopetrol had been faking the court process all these years, because it had been paying for the lease of the tank all the time, thus proving that it was not their property.
Montenegro bonus requested access to reservoirs
The Ministry of Capital Investments announced for Dan that the representatives of Montenegro bonus addressed the protector of property and legal interests, Bojana Ćirović, with a request to allow them access to the reservoirs that were given to that company for use and management based on the contract signed on July 11, 2003. Concluded with the Government.
The submitted request Is based on a final judgment from 2016, which is the result of disputes between Montenegro and Jugopetrol, resolved in favor of the state. For more information, the protector of property and legal interests and the Directorate for Cadastre and State Property are responsible, said the MKI. The editorial staff of Dana tried to get in touch with Bojana Ćirović, but she did not respond to calls and messages.
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