The Board of Directors of Elektroprivreda (EPCG) has been seeking a dividend from its subsidiary, Pljevlja Mine of Coal (RUP), for the previous year and 2022. This dividend is allocated for the electricity company.

According to reports from the newspaper Victory, the management of RUP and its board have expressed their opposition to the decision made by EPCG, citing the challenges they anticipate in the upcoming year, as indicated by Mine.

Elektroprivreda Crne Gora owns the coal mine, while the EPCG Board of Directors is charged with overseeing the operations of PLJEVALJSKA.

The amount of the dividend for RUP for 2022 has not yet been disclosed, but it is expected to be significant.

The Pljevlja company reported a net profit of 15.19 million euros at the end of last year, compared to 9.4 million euros at the end of 2022.

The CEO of RUP, Nemanja Laković, recently stated that the company expects to conclude this business year with a positive result of approximately 15 million euros, which matches last year’s performance, alongside extensive maintenance of the thermal power plant and ongoing investment works.

Laković emphasized that the upcoming year will be one of the most challenging periods in the company’s history, as well as for Montenegro’s entire energy system, mainly due to delayed projects, particularly environmentally friendly renovations of thermal power plants and the rerouting of the Ćehotina river.

He highlighted that the company will lose 48 million euros in revenue due to the extended operational downtime of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant for the next eight months as a result of environmental reconstruction.

For the forthcoming year, the Pljevlja company has planned numerous investments, including the completion of the Ćehotina flow relocation project, which is projected to cost around 20 million euros, as this project is crucial for the overall energy system; failure to complete it by November of next year could jeopardize coal supply stability.

Additionally, RUP aims to acquire property in the village of Kalušić to facilitate coal extraction, necessitating an investment of 3.6 million euros. Planned investments also include initiatives outlined in the business transformation plan, such as initiating asphalt production, establishing a factory for HTZ equipment, and creating an RUP laboratory.

As per Victory’s insights, should EPCG decide to forgo dividends for its Pljevlja subsidiary, it would adversely affect the liquidity of the coal mines, with subsequent repercussions on their investments.

EPCG reported a loss of 19.2 million euros during the first nine months of this year, reflecting a 130.5 percent decline compared to the same period the previous year, according to the financial report released for the first three quarters.