Neđeljko Gardašević, charged with the misuse of power in connection with the privatization of the “AS” hotel in Perazića do, was sentenced today to one year in prison and ordered to pay three million euros to the Montenegrin treasury.

The first-instance judgment was delivered by Judge Goran Šćepanović of the Higher Court in Podgorica.

The defendant received this conviction for neglecting to activate the bank guarantee provided by the Cyprus-based company “Montena Invest” during the privatization process of the AS hotel in Perazića dol.

The indictment outlines that this bank guarantee was issued by Sberbank of Moscow, which Gardašević supposedly used to secure investments amounting to 50 million euros for the renovation of the AS hotel.

Sberbank in Moscow declared that they never issued a guarantee for three million euros to “Montena Invest,” which, according to the indictment, allowed the company to gain a financial advantage at the expense of the state budget.

During the trial, Gardašević asserted his innocence, denying that he, as the chairman of the Board of Directors of “Montena Invest,” presented a false bank guarantee of three million euros during the AS hotel privatization and that he caused damage to Montenegro’s budget in that amount.

The “AS” hotel was sold over twenty years ago to the Russian-Montenegrin company “Nega Turs” for five million marks, with the state receiving three million marks and the Budva Riviera two million marks. The agreement mandated that 22 million marks be invested into the hotel, with a completion deadline set for the end of 2003.

In 2014, the Montenegrin Government signed an amendment to the contract that included a bank guarantee of three million euros issued by Sberbank to facilitate the completion of the “AS” hotel. However, when the Government sought to utilize this guarantee due to breach of obligations, as alleged in the indictment, the submission made via the embassy in the Russian Federation on January 26, 2016, was not executable because the guarantee details were false.

Sberbank, based in Moscow, reiterated that they never issued a guarantee for three million euros to “Montena Invest,” resulting in the company acquiring material benefits at the expense of the Montenegrin treasury.

News