MOSCOW, July 11 (Itar-Tass) - Russia is deeply concerned with a situation unfolding in connection with detention of Russian national Dmitry Potrubach, the financial director of the KAP aluminum plant in Podgorica, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned the ambassador of Montenegro to convey the Russian side’s deep concern over a situation unfolding in connection with Russian national Dmitry Potrubach, the financial director of the KAP aluminum plant in Podgorica,” the Russian Foreign Ministry went on to say.
The Russian diplomats expressed their concern to the Montenegrin ambassador over the fact that the Montenegrin authorities had denied Russian embassy workers from visiting Potrubach whose physical condition is alarming, according to the Russian side’s information.
The Russian Foreign Ministry firmly demanded that the Montenegrin authorities immediately allow a Russian consular worker and the embassy doctor to visit Potrubach.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian embassy in Мontenegro are closely following the situation with the Russian national, seeking the observation of his legitimate rights by the Montenegrin authorities,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Montenegro’s criminal police detained Potrubach for 48 hours on Wednesday night. The Russian asked for consular assistance. The reasons behind his arrest are still unclear. The Montenegrin authorities have not officially notified the Russian consulate about them. They may be linked to Potrubach’s professional duties at KAP.
Earlier, Podgorica initiated bankruptcy proceedings against KAP in which Oleg Deripaska’s En+ group has a stake.
"En+retains the right to defend its interests by all legal means in and outside Montenegro, including at international courts,” the company said in a statement released on Thursday.
KAP is a major enterprise in Montenegro which accounts for over a half of Montenegrin exports and over 15% of the country’s GDP. The plant’s annual capacity is about 120,000 tons of aluminum.
En+ has bought major stakes in KAP and the RBM bauxite mines during a privatization campaign in late 2005. A sharp hike of electric energy tariffs in Montenegro and excessive personnel made KAP loss-making. A fall in global aluminum prices pushed KAP to the verge of bankruptcy in October 2008. After a year of talks, En+ and the Montenegrin government finally signed an agreement for KAP development in October 2009.
Under a new agreement signed a year later, En+ handed over 29.36% of KAP shares and 31.82% of shares at the RBN bauxite mines to the Montenegrin government with a possibility to buy them back. En+ left similar stocks to itself.
Out of KAP’s almost 380-million-euro outstanding debt, 102 euro are owed to VTB (of which 60 million euro have state guarantees) and 91.6 million euro to En+, the En+ Group reports.