It gave tax breaks for labour costs, fuel, building materials and other imported goods to the Chinese and its subcontractors, including BEMAX.ĭritan Abazovic, the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of fighting corruption, believes members of the old government designed the law to cover their backs.ĭeputy Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abajovic, speaks to FRANCE 24 in his office in Podgorica © France 24 So how did they know that they would get the job ?"Īnother red flag for corruption investigators was the special law brought in by the previous government before the deal with China was signed. "The contract was signed in May that year, which is two months after the promotion. "The main traffic connection with Podgorica was promoted in March 2019 in BEMAX’S management report", explains Lazar Grdinic from the NGO ‘MANS’, which investigates corruption in Montenegro. In 2019 BEMAX was awarded the task of building the intersection, thereby earning an extra 30 million euros in the process. Montenegro’s strongman for thirty years, Milo Djukanovic’s name came up in the Pandora Papers corruption investigation published in October 2021.īEMAX also benefited from a mysterious situation in which the intersection needed to link Podgorica with the motorway was somehow forgotten in the initial contract. Local media also suspect that Ranko Ubovic co-owned the Grand Café. The pair, along with other Djukanovic allies, used to meet up in the Grand Café in Podgorica, before it was targeted by a bomb blast in 2015. Veselin Kovacevic is BEMAX’s official owner on paper, but in November 2021 he recognised what local media have suspected for years: the “informal owner” is Ranko Ubovic, a close ally of President Milo Djukanovic. Dozens of non-conformity reports, made public by the new government and provided to FRANCE 24 by the NGO 'MANS', detail everything from the "washing of mixer trucks" (PDF 1) in the river, "trucks parked into the Tara’s riverbed" (PDF 2) and that "the Contractor performed the crossing of Tara prior to obtaining water permit from the Relevant Authorities" … and “without approved Method Statement” (PDF 3).įormer Transport Minister of Montenegro, Ivan Brajovic, speaks to FRANCE 24 in his office in Podgorica © France 24īut rumours surrounding the origin of BEMAX have long fed suspicions of collusion between the former government and the company. The government was warned by the French-Italian group, INGEROP-GEODATA, about environmental damage. They were washing their machinery and trucks in the river!" "During the construction", he says, "for a couple of years, we had mud in the river. Mile Lazarevic from the Maniro Fly Fishing Club in Kolasin had to postpone his hopes of holding the World Fly Fishing Championships in the Tara River Basin. And an intersection was built through the river bed itself, modifying the river’s course. Large mounds of excavated material were dumped on private property in the village of Matasevo, where the motorway ends. Azra Vukovic from the NGO ‘Green Home’ showing FRANCE 24 damage to the Tara River in the village of Matesevo © France 24
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |