After 11 years, Devic exempted from tax evasion – Economy

After 11 years of prosecution, Ilija Devic, the former majority owner of ATP Vojvodina, has been acquitted of tax evasion charges, Danas learned.

Photo: Stanislav Milojkovic

During this process, several convictions were pronounced several times, including a 14-month sentence of imprisonment, which was then appealed.

In the meantime, the prosecutor's office and the court have for years rejected both the original valuations and documents, the debit cards of the tax administration and the company. When this was finally taken into account, the Novi Sad District Court pronounced the verdict of acquittal confirmed by the court of appeal these days.

– The prosecution only initiated proceedings on the basis of an official note from the police on the status of an ATP Vojvodina receivable, a withholding tax charge or an obligation on the salaries of employees. At the same time, Devic had tens of millions of VAT VAT dinars, and it is common practice to transfer more money from one account to another that is negative. There had been an agreement on this, and it was also usual. Moreover, the Prosecutor inadvertently abused the tax administration to initiate criminal proceedings for escape, Nikola Stanojevic, Danas' lawyer, and adds that the initial indictment indicted Devic tax evasion of 30 million dinars. the amount would have been reduced several times during the proceedings, first to 15 million, then to just over eight, to 6.6 million dinars. In the end, it turns out to be unfounded.

We recall that Devic bought ATP Vojvodina in 2004 at a public auction organized by the Privatization Agency. However, in the first year, he completed the investment program but also opened new lines, expanded his business and employed 200 new employees without any government subsidies. Already in 2006, he had committed a new investment, building an international and intercity bus station and an EvoBus service center. According to a contract with the authorities of Novi Sad, after obtaining a license for use, the city was supposed to transfer traffic to a new location. This was not done and under the pressure of wages, ATP Vojvodina went bankrupt at the end of 2007. In the business world, speculation was made as to who authorized the closure of the station or who wanted to buy this complex to bankruptcy at low prices. As special pressure procedure on Devic, parallel to the bankruptcy of the company, a criminal case of tax evasion was opened.

This was the first in a series of pressures that have been maintained in numerous court proceedings, most of which are still ongoing. According to the outstanding amounts, "the most serious claims for damages and loss of profits that Devic has launched against the City due to non-performance of the agreement.

It is interesting to note that on the portal of the appeal court, along with the acquittal for tax evasion, a judgment rejecting one of the claims of compensation of 132 million euros has also been made, and Devic has announced that it would request the review of the case before the Supreme Court of Cassation. Two appeals of damages are waiting for the appeal, while Devic says there is tremendous political pressure for the city to be released from liability. In addition, the bankruptcy procedure is under pressure, as is the request for an interim measure against the bank that has attempted to activate the mortgage on the premises, even though it is not the case. there is no adequate stock.

About what happened during the long trials in ATP Vojvodina and Devic procedures, it is regularly drafted, it is also designed according to this case, and this will also be said during a session of the European Parliament of tomorrow, which will examine the follow-up report of Serbia on the accession process