Out-of-court settlement possible between Smederevo and Comico Oil

(meeting on the premises of the Energy Ministry)

Serbian Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said on Monday that there was a possibility of an out-of-court settlement between Smederevo and the Comico Oil company, which planned to build a refinery in that town, and underlined that it was in the interest of the Serbian government that the investment be implemented as soon as possible, Tanjug reports.

- It is in our interest that the investment be implemented as soon as possible. If it can be implemented, we will back the project. Otherwise, we will concentrate on those implementable - the minister said after the talks with Comico Oil representatives at the Ministry of Energy.

The government would like to secure more investments and expects that the project would create around 500 jobs in Smederevo, as promised by the investor, she said.

- If Comico Oil gives assurances that it is capable of meeting its obligations, I expect an out-of-court settlement with those who have sued them, so that the investment could be implemented - Mihajlovic told journalists.

Underlining that it was going to be evident within the next month whether the investment could be implemented or not, she called on investors to abide by the decisions of government bodies and act in line with what they had pledged to the local self-government in Smederevo.

The town of Smederevo filed a lawsuit against Comico Oil, demanding the termination of a lease contract for the land where a refinery should be built by the US-Dutch consortium, because it failed to make a payment of RSD 652 million within the stipulated time.