Reaction to claims by Dejan Mijović of Civic Movement URA

Podgorica, Montenegro (30 august 2016) -- Regarding the claims made by Dejan Mijović of the Civic Movement URA, the Ministry of Economy recalls that following the adoption by the Government, the shareholders’ agreement with the A2A was supported by the Parliament. The agreement was published immediately after its adoption. Key points of the agreement are: It fully supports the construction of the Block II of the Thermal Power Plant Pljevlja; A2A waivers the resort to arbitration; put option has been established, as well as the pre-emption right.

All these items fully protect the state's interests, as opposed to the option advocated by Mr Mijovic, and that is - that there is no agreement.

Mijović has not yet responded to the public what the option he advocates for? Does this option means that A2A has the right to sell their shares to whomever they want, that there is no obligation to offer them to the state of Montenegro, that they may initiate arbitration, and that it slows down the project of Block II of the Power Plant Pljevlja?

Therefore, Mijović's claim that the agreements leaves the possibility for the Italians to sell itheir share in the Electric Power Industry of Montenegro (EPCG) to anyone they choose exists only in his script, in which the agreement has not been signed at all. The agreement protects the interests of the state through the pre-emptive right, which means that A2A is obliged to give notice to the Government if it wishes to sell its shares, providing clear information on the buyer and the terms under which it intends to sell the shares, allowing the Government to us its pre-emption right if it is not satisfied with the buyer.

In this way, the interests of the state are protected. Furthermore, Mijović, nor anyone from the opposition, has ever submitted a request to the Government of Montenegro to include in the agreement the formulation saying that "the potential buyer must be a company dealing with energy, which is European and is listed on the stock exchange." The public is familiar with the official proposals of the opposition which were forwarded to the A2A for consideration. We remind you that the Government of Montenegro offered all legal and technical assistance to the opposition representatives to formulate modalities of their cooperation with the Italian company.

Therefore, the claim that if "DPS wins the upcoming elections, the Electric Power Industry will be assumed by the Prime Minister's closest relatives, godparents or friends“ has no foundation in the agreement not in reality. We call on Mijović to publicly announce, based on his available data, who those persons are and which items of the Agreement he is referring to in these allegations? Otherwise, everything will remain in the sphere of politicking.