The Maltese authorities are currently probing allegations of money laundering and have requested documentation from various Montenegrin firms amid ongoing investigations linked to the Možura wind farm (VE) project.

According to documents obtained by the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG), the Attorney General’s Office of Malta has issued a formal request to our Special Public Prosecutor’s Office (SPT) as part of a money laundering investigation and other criminal activities.

The Special Prosecutor’s Office has sought records from the Tax Administration of Montenegro concerning several companies associated with one of the initial wind farm projects in Montenegro. Documentation we possess indicates that this inquiry was directed to the Tax Administration on November 15, 2024. The companies in question include “Možura Wind Park” (MWP), “Čelebić”, “Adriatic Energy Services”, “Management Consulting Montenegro”, and “Montmorency”. Maltese authorities are also receiving assistance from Europol, the European police agency.

The company “Fersa Energias Renovables” (now “Audax Energias Renovables”) initiated talks with the Government of Montenegro nearly two decades ago to construct a wind farm on a hill between Ulcinj and Bar. Businessman Tomislav Čelebić entered the venture with a one percent stake in the Možura Wind Park, jointly established with Fers in Montenegro.

Further inquiries were made regarding “Management Consulting Montenegro”, owned by Marko Vujovic, who is a cousin of former minister Branimir Gvozdenović, from the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).

The sole owner of the Budva-based company “Montmorency”, about which information is also sought, is, according to the Business Network, a Maltese lawyer, Antony Axisa. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported back in 2018 that this lawyer was “one of the pioneers of online gambling in Malta.”

Additionally, the Spanish prosecutor’s office in Madrid has launched an investigation into the company “Audax Energias Renovables SA” (Fersa) as of September 2024, following a report by Vladimir Popović regarding suspicions of money laundering, abuse of public office, bribery of Montenegrin officials, tax evasion, and document forgery.

Popović claims he and his partner Karlas Palau Kolom were harmed as they reportedly lost a million-dollar commission for facilitating this project, leading them to initiate several legal disputes both domestically and internationally.

The saga began in 2007 when the Spanish company “Fersa Energias Renovables” expressed interest in developing the Možura wind farm. By 2010, the Government of Montenegro signed a 20-year concession agreement with Fersa, which included substantial financial support through electricity subsidies totaling approximately 115.3 million euros over the initial 12 years. Subsequently, a land lease agreement was also executed.

Interestingly, “Fersa” reported a project to build a 100-megawatt (MW) wind farm in Montenegro to its shareholders in Spain, while the actual constructed capacity was only 46 MW. Some stakeholders allege this discrepancy was exploited to inflate costs and establish a corrupt payment arrangement, wherein 10 million was intended to be divided among various participants, including Fersa’s management and certain stakeholders in Montenegro. Such claims were also presented in proceedings before Montenegrin courts.

Despite obtaining concessions and all necessary permits from the Montenegrin government in 2010, Fersa did not undertake the construction of the wind farm; instead, a succession of other companies and offshore entities completed the project.

Following numerous ownership and contractor changes, the wind farm was eventually operational by November 2019, spearheaded by the Maltese state-owned entity “Enemalta” and “Malta Montenegro Wind Park”, with Chinese firm “Shanghai Electric Power Engineering” as the main contractor.

SDT remains silent, Podgorica court dismisses lawsuit

To date, the Montenegrin prosecution has made minimal progress in investigating the allegations surrounding this deal, which have been a source of concern for both local and international observers. Almost all investigations have been suspended due to insufficient evidence. The SDT has not responded to inquiries from CIN-CG concerning their actions on the Maltese prosecutor’s request or the current status of the investigations related to the companies responsible for constructing the wind farm at Možura.

The investigation into whether “Možura Wind Park” was unjustly denied nearly seven million euros in input VAT has been suspended, alongside inquiries into tax evasion by the Chinese contractor of the wind farm, as well as the consulting services offered to “Možura Wind Park”.

For years, the SDT has been looking into whether Marko Vujović, the executive manager of “Adriatic Capital Advisory”, overpaid consulting services to Možura Wind Park by approximately 1.5 million euros. A report forwarded by the SDT to the Basic Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica against China’s “Shanghai Electric Power Engineering Montenegro LLC” and its director Jian Zhang for tax evasion was also dismissed.

Former judge of the Basic Court in Podgorica, Katarina Peković, ultimately dismissed the lawsuit filed by Vladimir Popović and Carlos Palou Colo, who asserted they were defrauded by the companies Fersa (Audax) and BWP Montenegro, whose representative was Milena Popovic, daughter of a long-time labor leader Danil Popović. Popović and Kol contend that Danilo and Milena Popović participated in the allegedly corrupt payment arrangement, along with Fersa’s board chairman Jose Maria Rojero, despite potential conflicts of interest. They argue they were denied their fees because they refused to partake in the corrupt payment scheme. Danilo Popović has categorically denied any involvement in the payment scheme or the project in general.

The verdict was finalized in February 2023, and a review of the proceedings before the Supreme Court is now awaited. Peković currently represents Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

In an interview with CIN-CG, Vladimir Popović stated he believes he has fallen victim to a corrupt system, which he posits is reflected in the verdict.

“I declined to partake in the controversial scheme and advocated for legality,” insists Popović.

Lawsuit against Audax (Fersa) in Spain

In June 2023, Carlos Cole filed a lawsuit in Barcelona’s Court of First Instance, seeking 75 million euros in damages from Audax Renovables. The trial is set to commence in January 2025.

“Audax” has not responded to repeated inquiries from CIN-CG journalists regarding the deal, sent multiple times via email. Attempts to reach the vice president of Audax’s board of directors Eduardo Romeo also yielded no response.

Col Palau has accused Audax of illegally transferring 99 percent of the shares of Možura Wind Park (MWP) to the mysterious company Cifidex Ltd. from Seychelles, which lacked the qualifications mandated by the Montenegrin tender for the takeover of the 115.3 million euro concession funded by Montenegrin taxpayers through subsidies related to the agreement.

Notably, the legal representative of Cifidex was none other than Marko Vujović’s brother, Bojan Vujović. The actual proprietors of Cifidex concealed their identities behind another offshore entity, GSA Services Ltd, established just months prior to the transaction with Fers and Čelebić.

According to the Montenegrin Concessions Law, a concession agreement cannot be transferred to another party without prior consent from the grantor (the Government of Montenegro). Moreover, the new concessionaire must fulfill at least the same criteria as the previous one. Cifidex, possessing a mere capital of one dollar and no relevant experience, was ineligible.

Former President and Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic previously noted to the media that the entire operation was conducted “impeccably legally” and that the allegations of corruption were merely “systematic defamation spun by the media.”

The Montenegrin government asserted that negotiations regarding the sale of MWP and the concession transfer were conducted with Enemalta, the state-owned enterprise.

Former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has repeatedly asserted to Maltese media that he “fails to comprehend the uproar regarding the deal in Montenegro” and that “there’s nothing questionable about it.” Last May, Muscat faced charges of money laundering, fraud, bribery, and corruption linked to the privatization of three hospitals in Malta.

First hearing about Cifidex from the media

In November 2015, Fersa completed the sale of 99 percent of its MWP shares for 2.9 million euros, while Tomislav Čelebić received 650,000 euros for his one percent stake (over 22 times the amount paid to Fersa).

Montenegro’s Ministry of Economy, under the leadership of former Prime Minister Duško Marković and Minister Dragica Sekulić, declared in July 2020 that they had no information regarding the alleged involvement of offshore companies 17 Black and Cifidex Ltd in the share transfer from the prior to the new tenant of the Možura wind farm construction project. They also asserted that they had never been in contact with these firms nor entered any agreements.

However, documents from the Tax Administration and an official publication in the Montenegrin Official Gazette dated December 9, 2015 demonstrate that Cifidex Ltd became the owner of Možura Wind Park, contradicting the claims made by Montenegrin officials.

Following Cifidex’s acquisition of 100 percent of MWP shares from the Spaniards and Tomislav Čelebić for 3.5 million euros, just 19 days later, the wind farm was sold to Enemalta for triple that amount – 10.3 million euros.

According to Reuters sources, three million euros allocated for the purchase of MWP shares were supplied by Jorgen Fenech, the primary suspect in the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Fenech financed the share acquisition through his Dubai-based company 17 Black Limited. Caruana Galizia was investigating questionable transactions regarding the Možura project at the time of her murder, which occurred in 2017 via explosives placed under her vehicle.

Fenech has since been released on bail of over $50 million following his arrest for the journalist’s murder. His trial has yet to commence, with him denying any involvement.

Brothers George and Alfred Deđorđo confessed to planting the bomb and received 40-year prison sentences each. Another accomplice, Vince Muscat, also pled guilty and agreed to a 15-year prison term.

There remains hope that authorities from Spain, Malta, and Europol will take action to press the Montenegrin judiciary into finally clarifying this intricate affair.

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