Apart from the idiotic intention to change the Loan Agreement with EXIM Bank without a decision of the Assembly, the Minister of Finance Milojko Spajić is given free rein to negotiate and conclude that Agreement, it is a very complex and risky operation that must be under the supervision and control of both the Assembly and the general public, said the president of PzP, Nebojsa Medojevic, and added that the replacement of the Chinese loan is gambling with the fate of the people and the state of Montenegro.
“Bonnie & Clyde tried to deceive the Assembly and do another secret, but organized deal, with money and property of citizens and the state!”, stated Medojević.
According to him, behind the intention of the notorious duo of Prime Ministers Zdravko Krivokapić and Spajić “Krivi & Mickej” to indebt the country with another 900 million euros “secretly but organized”, there is only a motive for additional robbery of citizens and the state
“Apart from the idiotic intention to change the Loan Agreement with EXIM Bank without the decision of the Assembly, which the Assembly adopted in 2014, and to give the proven broker, the deceiver in the liar Mickey, free hands to negotiate and conclude that Agreement, it is a very complex and a risky operation that must be under the supervision and control of both the Assembly and the general public,” Medojevic pointed out.
As he adds, this loan to a Chinese bank is not in securities, so it cannot be resold, swapped, given concerts, etc. without the knowledge of a third party.
“The Chinese side has a secure debt in its hands, which was guaranteed by the state of Montenegro with its budget, movable and immovable property. Obviously, China is satisfied with this arrangement. The payment deadlines of 20 years, with a grace period of 6 years and an interest rate of 2%, were very favorable at that time,” Medojevic said.
He points out that the problem for Montenegro is that the job is heavily overpaid and that a corruption bonus of at least 500 million euros has appeared in the price of the construction of this section.
“Namely, the French consulting company Luk Berze, which was hired by potential international creditors, estimated the value of the works at around 600 million euros, and the Montenegrin government led by Djukanovic concluded a deal with the Chinese company CRBC at almost 1.1 billion euros to finance such an inflated contract, it took a loan from EXIM bank of 809 million euros”, stated Medojević.
The problem, as he says, with this section of the highway is not the construction costs, but the installation costs.
“Through the construction contract, the government allowed the regime company Bemax (cigarette smuggling front) to get 30 percent of the jobs, exempted from paying all taxes and duties and excise and CRBC and Bemax and gave them free rein to import unknown quantities of materials, exploit gravel for free from the Tara River and other localities. Nobody controlled how much BEMAX costs for the import of raw materials, raw materials and gravel, etc. for the construction of other facilities in Montenegro, he presented it as the cost of the highway and avoided paying VAT, excise duties, customs duties”, said Medojević.
As he adds, during the construction, new costs appeared, which the designers and contractors “forgot” to include in the basic contract – bypasses, connecting roads, electrical and water installations, etc., etc.
“Given the size and scale of this mega-corruption, the Government of Montenegro had to undertake a thorough legal, financial, technical revision of these arrangements, which would investigate well-founded suspicions that it was high treason and major corruption. Instead, Krivi & Mickey are negotiating to replace the Chinese loan with another loan arrangement, about which MPs and the general public know nothing. The question is why right now this duo Bonnie & Clyde are entering this adventure”, Medojević emphasized.
He states that the Ministry of Finance publicly stated in April that Montenegro has no problems with the repayment of the received installments of 66 million dollars for 2021.
“On the other hand, this debt swap cannot be realized without the consent of the Chinese side. The Chinese could agree to replace the debt, but only under more favorable conditions than they have with Montenegro. If it is a political decision of the EU to remove China from the list of creditors of Montenegro and if it is a matter of geostrategic and political reasons, China can negotiate with the EU for some benefits that have nothing to do with Montenegro,” Medojevic explains.
According to him, let's say they get higher quotas for the export of steel and copper from their factories in Serbia or from some other country that is not a member of the EU.
“If the EU gives them some other business or geostrategic benefits, all of which have a monetary equivalent, China can replace Montenegro's debt. From a negotiating point of view, China holds all the strings in its hands, has a well-secured claim, and what is very important for a negotiator, has time. They are in no hurry to score a deal,” Medojevic said.
He emphasized that the EU and Montenegro have a negotiating problem, that their negotiating position is very bad, and that they do not have time.
“It is known that the EU finds it very difficult, almost not at all, to take common positions towards China, because the economic interests of the leading EU countries with China are huge. It is an illusion to expect that such a confusing EU will define a clear negotiating position and that it will be able to work operationally with the executed Government of Montenegro, which does not have the support of the majority. Increasing quotas for steel and copper for export to the EU for Chinese companies in Serbia would provoke chain reactions from many countries outside the EU with requests for quota increases or other benefits,” Medojevic added.
He says the price of this gambling with Chinese loans could be astronomical.
“Having a very negative experience with the gambling adventures of our cheerful duo Bonnie & Clyde, I'm pretty sure that the only motive is money and commissions that would be charged for various services around this arrangement by Mickey's fellow gamblers and financial and legal brokers he is surrounded by,” said the president of PzP. a.
He states that the Chinese side has fulfilled its agreed obligations.
“She paid the money. The Montenegrin side has not even started repaying the loan. It is clear that the whole Treaty now represents mechanisms for securing the payment of debt. The contract is in the hands of EXIM Bank. They have a pari passu clause, the possibility of collecting all installments at once, taking ownership of the highway section, collection of state shares in EPCG, Port of Bar, CCES, CEDIS, Airports, renaming ownership of state-owned land in Buljarica, Jaz, Velika plaža etc. etc. Eventual disputes are resolved before the courts of communist China”, explains Medojević.
As he pointed out, in the possible negotiations of the Chinese on the sale of their claim to a third party, Montenegro is not asked anything.
“Now is the time to ask ourselves, why did Bonnie & Clyde try to deceive the Assembly in such a hurry and get their hands free to ‘secretly and in an organized way’ negotiate the replacement of the Chinese debt, when they don't ask anything about that business. “If Montenegro is asked for some new guarantees, mortgages, payment terms, then the Government is obliged to prepare a new draft agreement that would now include three parties, and that draft agreement must be sent to the Assembly for a statement,” Medojevic said.
He adds that this amendment that Mickey sent to the Assembly was aimed at the Assembly not declaring itself on this new arrangement and “that Minister Mickey concludes the Agreement, without the Assembly”.
“If this unconstitutional and illegal amendment had passed, Mickey's price would have risen and he would have been the one who could count on corruption compensation along with Krivo, because the deal would depend only on the signatures of these two.” If Bonnie & Clyde really have a good offer on the table of interest to the citizens and the state of Montenegro, they do not need this amendment. Let them prepare and negotiate this Agreement and send it to the Assembly where a debate will be held in front of the public on all aspects of this very risky and problematic arrangement. If technical changes to the budget are needed due to the changed items as a consequence of that Agreement, it can be voted together with the Agreement”, stated Medojević.
According to him, the interests of the state and the citizens of Montenegro are not defended here.
“It is especially worrying that Reuters published information that an integral part of this arrangement could be the sale or mortgage of the most valuable remaining pieces of family silver – EPCG, LUKA BAR, Jaz, Buljarica, Velika plaža. It would definitely be the end of the state of Montenegro and the cessation of any made so that it can survive as a sovereign and independent state. Bonnie & Clyde and their mentors from Vijesti are gambling with the fate of this nation. They play roulette on the gambling table instead of their money and property, they put the property and money of all citizens of Montenegro, including the state itself. I said this and saved my soul,” Medojevic said.
He says that later they do not say that they did not know and that no one warned them.
“I am warning you in time and now you know. The only effective solution is the urgent removal of this gambling-treacherous government, the formation of a government of electoral trust that would clear voter lists (the list is the ideal mechanism for that), set up a new RTCG management and elect a new SDT to prevent vote buying and electoral corruption. the people what kind of government they want”, concluded Medojević.