A Time of Love, a Time of Hatred

The Montenegrin government has announced quite calmly: "With his statement that he is ready to finance the physical liquidation of a number of prominent figures and people who had allegedly crossed him, if he really did make such a statement, Mr.Jezdimir Vasiljevic, first of all, committed a criminal offense, and at the same time he excluded himself from the sphere of honest business and any further business dialogue with bodies of the Republic of Montenegro". However - what a strange coincidence - despite all that "calmness" the Montenegrin government has suddenly been decimated. Montenigrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic is in hospital, and a few other ministers are on sick-leave. The Prime Minister sought medical treatment in the evening of that same day when the echo of Mr.Jezdimir Vasiljevic's Budapest bomb was spreading throughout these regions. Dr.Djoko Jocic, director of the Podgorica medical center has confirmed that the Prime Minister was received and kept at the coronary unit of the department of internal medicine because "he complained of pain in the area of the heart".

It is difficult to say now that Mr.Vasiljevic will experience yet another defeat in his showdown with his Montenegrin partners, but all the parameters point to the conclusion that this is precisely what could happen. All the more so since Mr.Vasiljevic counted too much on the naiveness of the Montenegrins, or better to say on them being enchanted by his throwing around of hard currency and his verbal readiness to make a Hong Kong out of Montenegro, constantly stressing that Serbia will be like China compared to it. The director of the Bank of Private Entrepreneurship, Milorad Micko Vukotic, was not naive at all and, by accepting to do service for Mr.Vasiljevic made it possible for the owner of "Jugoskandik" to save the chain of his banks from being closed down. He did not let Vasiljevic have more than 23 percent of the bank's shares, and good relations broke off when Boss Jezda said that he did not have money to pay out his clients' interests. Or more precisely, on December 24th 1992, director Vukotic issued an order that hard currency deposits are no longer to be accepted, or at least not until he settles his accounts with Mr.Vasiljevic. He immediately presented a bill to the amount of 18 million marks and afterwards he handed the matter over to the court and thus he became the first on the list for getting compensation from the already then expected sales of "Jugoskandik's" property. The court in Podgorica accepted his request and 9 million liters of gasoline stored in the port of Bar and Kotor, which belonged to Mr.Vasiljevic, were confiscated. Director Vukotic was eager to reimburse the bank's savings account owners, so in talks with "Jugoskandik's" general representative he tried to get a settlement outside court, suggesting that the sales of 5 million liters be immediately approved which would be enough to reimburse the bank account owners and for the bank to make a minimal profit. Such an agreement, according to Vukotic, was reached, but when this issue of VREME will be in print, the dispute will be before the Podgorica court. Mr.Vukotic energetically denies all of Vasiljevic's accusations that he was extravagant with the bank's money, buying expensive cars and houses, and financing the election campaign of the Montenegrin Liberal Alliance (LSCG). True, Mr.Vukotic is in the Montenegrin Parliament as a member of the Liberal Alliance, and when denying Vasiljevic's accusations, he points to the reports on the inspections of the National Bank, the financial police and various other inspectors who used to come often precisely because he is not on good terms with the Montenegrin authorities. Vukotic points to papers and waves around with them, while Vasiljevic is, for the moment, trying to win the war at well organized press conferences.

While relations were good Mr.Vasiljevic found open doors everywhere and all the obstacles to the ascent of his business were eliminated. Thus Velimir Andric, director of "Jugopetrol" of Kotor, was dismissed because he opposed the government's decision to allow Vasiljevic to rent the firm's reservoirs and several gasoline stations at which he would sell gasoline for hard currency. All this was agreed on with the new director and it functioned impeccably. The government hid for too long that, in the meantime, after the second installment of the lease on Sveti Stefan was paid, it signed an annex to the contract relieving Vasiljevic of the obligation to pay for the lease until the sanctions are in force. Meanwhile, the image Sveti Stefan had acquired in the world of the tourism through great effort has been destroyed. Some new clientele has rushed there. The clientele that needs 100 - 200 well armed guards to protect it, inclined to harass local people and chance travellers to such an extent that Sveti Stefan started being avoided in a large circle. Prime Minister Djukanovic repeated on several occasions that there were no problems with Mr.Vasiljevic and that this cooperation would last for as long as it is to mutual satisfaction. This was confirmed when the one-year anniversary of Montenegro's proclamation as an ecological state was celebrated in Zabljak where Mr.Vasiljevic appeared as the general sponsor. At the time, no one saw an end to the mutual satisfaction, although it will remain registered that Mr.Vasiljevic spent the night on Sveti Stefan for the last time on September 26th 1992.

The beginning of the end is linked to the unsettled accounts with the money put up for buying 100 thousand tons of gasoline and oil. The attempt of the member of the Montenegrin parliament belonging to the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) to open a debate on the newly arisen conflict "because the assembly must not remain without a stand on threats of murder to the authorities' most prominent people" - failed. An MP belonging to the People's Party (NS) said that a debate should not be opened now due to the Prime Minister's health condition. It remains to be seen how those who were partners until yesterday will settle their mutual outstanding claims and who will profit in all that.

Many things will, quite certainly, become clear due to the circumstances. According to our sources, it will also be heard that Mr.Vasiljevic had transferred enormous amounts of hard currency abroad last summer through the "Montenegrobanka" bank. For that service he paid a commission of 1.5 - 2.5 percent, while in Serbia he would pay at least 20 percent. No one knows for sure how much money was exported in that way, but many are inclined to claim that with that money Vasiljevic was intending to buy a highway in Germany.