Possible changes at the head of Novi Duvanski: Are they replacing Arveda because of the delay?

Acting CEO of Novi Duvanski Kombinat Gabrijel Arveda could soon be dismissed from that position, "Vijesti" has learned, and a possible candidate for that position is the current financial director of Generali osiguranje in Podgorica Savka-Sanja Darmanović.

"Vijesti" was unable to get in touch with Savko Darmanović yesterday, and in response to "Vijesti"'s question about the reasons for his dismissal, Arveda explained that this is the first time he has heard of something like this.

"What you are telling me is completely new to me. As far as I know, I am still the executive director of NDK. Thank you for taking an interest in me," said Arveda.

The three-member board of directors decides on Arveda's fate. The president of the board is Abdulsalam Murad Juwaied Alganahi, and the members are Ahmad Ibrahim Hamdan Bkairat and Nikola Dedeić, representing the Montenegrin Government.

The alleged reasons for the dismissal of the executive director, according to "Vijesti" information, are the unfinished project of building a new cigarette factory in Podgorica and very poor communication with state representatives who are not satisfied that the third deadline by which the factory was supposed to start production was also violated.

According to the contract signed with the Government and the Capital City, the factory was supposed to be completed in February of this year, then the deadline was moved to June and then to November of this year.

The factory, whose construction has been ongoing for more than a year, still has no water and electricity, and the director of NDK Arveda admitted a few months ago that there was some damage during the transportation of the machines to Bar.

The controversies surrounding the competence of the acting executive director of NDK began practically before his appointment in the middle of this year when he submitted his high school diploma as an electrician, which he obtained in Italy at an industrial-craft school in 1975.

Despite the suspicions, Arveda then publicly explained that he was "absolutely sure that his education and work experience correspond to high management positions in the tobacco industry anywhere in the world".

He also stated that the process of recognizing his diploma "was successfully concluded on June 5 of this year", as evidenced by the confirmation of the Ministry of Education.

So far, the investor has allegedly invested around 13 million euros for the purchase of land, the construction of a factory and the purchase of new production equipment, but not all technical details have been defined yet.

After the investment evaluation, new shares will be issued, and BMJ Industries will acquire the share capital of NDK in proportion to its investment. The capital in Novi Duvanski owns 30,08 percent of the shares, while the majority owner is the Government (69,9 percent). Those shares would be transferred to the investor when he completes the whole deal.