The Commercial Court has once again ruled in the case involving the state and the company “Univerzal Monte” concerning the construction of the Meljine-Petijevići road in Herceg Novi. The court has ordered the state to pay the private company 4,000,000 euros in addition to default interest starting from February 1, 2022. The ruling also mandates the state to reimburse the company for litigation costs amounting to 21,970 euros.

Judge Vladimir Bulatović dismissed the state’s counterclaim, which sought to declare the Agreement on the Termination of the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) Agreement for the Meljine-Petijevići road null and void, asserting it was unfounded.

This information was officially provided to “Vijesti” by the Commercial Court, which noted that the verdict is not final, and the state has the option to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

In November of last year, the Commercial Court had already ruled that the state must pay 4,000,000 euros to “Univerzal Monte,” rejecting a concurrent request for VAT payment of 840,000 euros that the company sought in its lawsuit. Previously, this VAT claim was dismissed by the state as an impermissible counterclaim, but an appeal was still possible.

An appeal was subsequently lodged with the Court of Appeal by the Protector of the State’s Property and Legal Interests, Bojana Cirovic, advocating for either a reversal of the verdict and dismissal of the lawsuit, acceptance of the counterclaim, or a quash of the decision for reassessment. “Univerzal Monte” contested the appeal, requesting it be dismissed as unfounded.

At the end of last year, the Court of Appeal overturned the previous verdict, emphasizing that the Commercial Court’s ruling violated the Law on Civil Procedure; specifically, it was indicated that an unqualified party was involved in the proceedings or was not adequately represented. The counterclaim for the nullity of the BOT was rejected as it was noted that the Municipality of Herceg Novi was not included in the appeal, despite being a party to the agreement.

The case was then sent back to the Commercial Court for reevaluation, culminating in a final hearing held at the end of April this year.

“On May 29, the Commercial Court delivered its verdict: The claim was accepted, ordering Montenegro – the Ministry of Finance to compensate ‘Univerzal Monte’ for the debt arising from the Agreement on the Termination of the BOT of the Meljine-Petijevići Road, totaling 4,000,000 euros with legal default interest starting from February 1, 2022, until payment; the counterclaim regarding the nullification of the BOT Agreement was dismissed as unfounded; and Montenegro – the Ministry of Finance was tasked to compensate the plaintiff ‘Univerzal Monte’ for the civil proceedings costs, amounting to 21,970 euros,” stated the Commercial Court.

The Commercial Court had previously obligated the state to pay four million euros to “Univerzal Monte” by the end of last year, but the Court of Appeals overturned the decision following an appeal and returned the case for further evaluation.

The contract with “Univerzal Monte,” associated with Serbian businessman Vuk Hamovic, was established for the road’s construction in 2008, planning for the road’s use over 20 years before it would revert to the Municipality of Herceg Novi. However, this arrangement was amicably terminated by Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić‘s government on May 7, 2021, resulting in the cessation of toll collection on that section.

Following this, the government directed the Ministry of Finance to allocate four million euros in the subsequent fiscal budget to fulfill the compensation agreement with “Univerzal Monte.” However, under then-Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, the ministry did not enact this plan; instead, during the last meeting of the former government in April 2022, it was concluded that the payment would be sourced from the budget reserve.

However, the government, under Dritan Abazović, failed to execute this obligation and forwarded relevant deal documentation to the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT). Subsequently, “Univerzal Monte” initiated legal action against the state, prompting the state to file a counterclaim for annulment of the agreement.

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