If the Swiss company 8B Capital does not settle its debt to the Electric Power Company of Montenegro (EPCG) by May 12, which stems from the lease agreement for the production facilities of the Nikšić Steel Plant (the Steel and Forge Plants), the state-owned energy company plans to initiate legal proceedings to recover the debt.
This was officially confirmed to “Vijesti” by EPCG, which sent a notice to Igor Šamiz, a representative of the Swiss company, stating that they had unilaterally terminated the lease agreement for the Steel and Forge Plants.
“The notice states that if the obligations based on the lease are not fulfilled by May 12, EPCG will be forced to seek payment through legal means. We have sent three written notices requesting payment according to the signed agreement. The agreement itself provides us with the right to terminate it unilaterally if the lessee does not fulfill obligations, including paying the rent and taking over workers from the Steel Plant,” said Miro Vračar, Executive Director of the Production Unit at EPCG.
As explained, the debt collection will be sought through the courts in Montenegro, and the court in Geneva would only be competent in the case of arbitration, which, in this case, will not occur.
“If there had been any investment activities that would require an investment assessment and arbitration, the Geneva court would have been competent. However, since there have been no investments or activities, our court is responsible for the debt collection based on the lease,” Vračar explained.
The lease agreement, signed in July last year, specifies that EPCG can terminate the agreement if “8B Capital” fails to pay the lease in accordance with the contract and if the payment is not made within 45 days of receiving a written notice of non-payment.
“In the event of a dispute between the parties regarding this agreement, the parties will seek to resolve the dispute amicably. The parties agree that any disputes arising from or related to this agreement will be finally resolved under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce arbitration by three arbitrators. The place of arbitration is Geneva, Switzerland.”
EPCG stated that they had issued seven invoices for payment, with the lease debt amounting to €223,000 plus VAT, and the debt for the transfer of employees amounting to €644,000. “8B Capital” has so far paid only €31,000 for the rent and a deposit of €30,000 as stipulated in the tender.
The lessee was required to pay a monthly rent of €31,000 starting from October 1, and out of seven rental payments, they only paid two. Regarding the number of workers, according to the contract, they were supposed to take over 150 employees within six months, but the lessee has not taken any, and the salaries of the employees have been paid by EPCG, while they were engaged in the construction of solar power plants and concrete blocks. EPCG Nikšić Steel Plant officials had previously stated that workers earned salaries in the last quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year. The Nikšić Steel Plant employs 249 permanent workers and 11 under service contracts.
“From the beginning, we expressed our skepticism, but we did not want to speak out to avoid being accused of being against the investor and the operation. Of course, from the very beginning, the investor has shown nothing to justify the opportunity they were given, as nothing has been done in six months to prepare the plants for production, although Igor Šamiz and some of his engineers visited the Steel Plant and announced the start of production in June,” said Ivan Vujović, President of the EPCG Steel Plant Union.
According to him, what is most important is that EPCG, the Steel Plant, and the workers have fulfilled everything required by the investor.
“The workers who were needed by the investor have always been available, which is sufficient evidence that the problem was not on our side. The problem was clearly money, as shown by the non-payment of rent. Frankly, we are glad that the contract was terminated because we were fed up with irresponsible investors who were coming to the Steel Plant ‘like on a conveyor belt.’ Most importantly, our work was not dependent on the investor and the start of the Steel and Forge Plants, as we said in the previous period,” emphasized Vujović.
He added, “If there had been any investment activities that would require an investment assessment and arbitration, the Geneva court would have been competent. However, since no investments were made and no activities occurred, our court is competent for debt collection based on the lease.”
The contract was signed in July 2024 for a period of 50 years, and 8B Capital committed to investing €7.75 million within one year of signing the agreement and launching production, and €36.85 million within five years, as stated in their offer.
Vijesti sent a question to Šamiz three days ago, asking how many lease installments had been paid, why the workers were not taken over, why the agreement was signed if he believed it was not well drafted, and whether he had checked the condition of the Steel Plant before deciding to lease it. No response to these questions has been received.
Vujović: No Concerns About Bankruptcy
As Vujović stated, after the debt restructuring agreement with the Tax Administration and the parent company was signed, there is “no concern” that they could become “a company that would be in fear of bankruptcy.”
“Evidence of this is the work done in the last six months, showing that the workers at the Steel Plant know and want to work. Clearly, we were not responsible for the tax debt incurred in 2024. The responsibility lies with someone else, likely the previous management. The meeting in October at the Ministry of Energy changed everything when we increased production almost fourfold, which led to positive balances at the end of each month in 2025. Most importantly, we have guarantees from EPCG that we will have work in the future, and we can promise that we will respond to all requests that come our way in the best possible manner,” concluded the President of the Union.
