Montenegro said becoming Russian economic colony

[Crvena zvezda]

Montenegro said becoming Russian economic colony
November 23, 2005
YU, ME

Text of report by Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti on 23 November
Podgorica: Montenegro has become a new Russian province and Jakov Ickov, new chairman of the board of directors of the Niksic Bauxite Mine and the Podgorica Aluminium Complex, is its new lord and master, Group for Change [GZP, influential NGO with political ambitions] says.
"Presents will be given to the new master - the most important economical resources and non-renewable natural reserves that are worth 400m euros as ore and 1.5bn when processed into aluminium," Branko Radulovic, member of the GZP main committee, has told the MINA-business news agency.
He says that for Rusal, to whose Cyprus branch the government will be turning over 32 per cent of the bauxite mine stocks and 65.44 per cent of the aluminium complex stocks by the end of the month, the bauxite production cost will be between 10 and 11 euros per tonne and the market price will be more than 30, so the company will be making about 400m euros of profit.
"In the future the profit margin will definitely be much higher because you cannot find red bauxite anywhere else in Europe, only here, in the Niksic [town in central Montenegro] area," Radulovic says,
He adds that by processing bauxite into 140,000 tonnes of aluminium per year Rusal will be profiting 1.4bn euros just from ingots and logs.
"The profit margin will be much higher here, too, since the ingots will be processed in their other factories and they will be using so-called tolling money laundering schemes," he says.
Radulovic adds that Rusal will receive at least 116.2m euros of electricity subsidies. The price of electricity will grow and the environment will be permanently devastated.
"The ironworks case will be repeated here as far as investments, protection of the environment, transparency of operations and the alienation between the management and the employees is concerned," Radulovic believes. "The difference is - the new master will stay longer, until he finishes exploiting the most important resources in Montenegro".
He says that "the colonization of Montenegro" will have consequences, not only those that affect the economy, welfare, ecology and development, but also the politics and [EU] integration.
Radulovic says that he is just not certain how "the formal owner of Montenegro, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, and the actual owner, Ickov," will cooperate.
"They will work well together if they find common financial interests they can profit from using off-shore companies. Practically, nobody knows who is behind such companies," Radulovic says.

[Marulus]

About half a year ago I read somewhere (I think it was in the Montenegrin newspaper Pobjeda) that Russia was willing to establish a special partnership with Montenegro, including large investments, provided that Montenegro gives up striving for NATO membership.

[Crvena zvezda]

Originally Posted by prometheus

About half a year ago I read somewhere (I think it was in the Montenegrin newspaper Pobjeda) that Russia was willing to establish a special partnership with Montenegro, including large investments, provided that Montenegro gives up striving for NATO membership.

I read that also. Montenegrin officials refused.