The unsigned reaction of the "representative of the state capital in the Board of Directors and Management of the Company 'Barska plovidba'" in connection with the allegations in my article about the resignation of the representative of minority shareholders in the Board of Directors, Aleksandar Jovović, and the reasons he gave for his action, clearly confirm once again all the (in)ability of the new management of that company, which is backed by the current Montenegrin Government.
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Namely, the executive director of Barska plovidba, Zoran Tajić (PzP), who signed the email sending the response, is apparently incapable of even "fairly agreeing".
"Offers that were received from the lessor and that on two occasions were unanimously rejected by the Board of Directors of the company, as unacceptable, of which there is no indication in the subject text, except that it is incorrectly stated that negotiations are being held with the current lessor, which is not true," says Tajić, grossly avoiding the truth.
First - the text clearly states that Tajić, in an email he sent to "Sea Pioneer" on July 6, "to the knowledge of Mr. Cemil Tumkaya", said that the current freight rate of $8.200 per day, which was used for the contracts with "Sea Pioneer" for the ships "Bar" and "Budva", was unacceptable to him.
Second and much, much more important - Tajić negotiates with the current tenant and offers him two options for continued cooperation. Both (the first for a period of six months at a price of 10.200 dollars per day per ship and the second at a price of 18.000 dollars per day per ship for a period of one year) are lower than the current prices of time charter arrangements for handy size bulk carriers such as "Bar" and "Budva" on the world market. Namely, at the beginning of July, such ships were concluded at a price of 24.000 to 26.500 dollars per day in a six-month time charter (over three times more than Tajić offered Cemil Tumkaya at the time), while one-year time charters were concluded at the beginning of July at a price of 21.000 dollars (almost one-sixth more than what Tajić offered to "Sea Pioneer" at the time).
In order to eliminate any dilemma about who is telling the truth - me or him who claims that he did not negotiate with "Sea Pioneer", here as an illustration I am attaching an email that the executive director of "Barska plovidba" Zoran Tajić sent to "Sea Pioneer", i.e. to its owner and director Cemil Tumkaya, on July 6.
As for his salary as executive director, it was questioned by Mr. Jovović, not me as a journalist, because neither I nor the rest of the public knew about him until now. This is because (very interestingly), Mr. In his property record, which he submitted to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption on May 12, more than 30 days after he assumed the position of executive director of "Barska Ploviodba", Tajić did not even mention the income he receives from that position, which is why he is considered a public official.
The "ability" of Tajić and the rest of the new Board of Directors of "Barska" is also shown by the fact that to this day, almost ten months after the conclusion of the last contract with "Sea Pioneer" on the charter of ships, which was extremely harmful by all parameters, they have not managed to terminate that contract, nor even to timely collect all the financial obligations of the partners under that arrangement. They ask us to take their word for it that "it is a firm contract, the termination of which or a possible unilateral action, would cause great and irreparable damage to our society", and that is why they are ready to tolerate millions of debts of "Sea Pioneer", which pays rent irregularly, and hire ships at a price that is three times lower than the market price. Every day, "Bar" and "Budva" under this contract, which Tajić and the Board of Directors will not or cannot terminate, are currently causing direct damage to their owners (the state and minority shareholders) in the amount of 43.600 dollars. That's $15,9 million annually, mr. Tajić - enough for the next four years for "Barska" to pay installments of the loan for the construction of "Bar" and "Budva" to the Chinese Exim Bank, instead of all the citizens of Montenegro doing it on its behalf - whether they are shareholders of the company or not.
I thank Mr. Tajić for trying a short lesson on doing business in the world market of shipping space. I learned it a long time ago at the Maritime Faculty, and from that lesson, I hope, Tajić finally understood today that the whole art of survival or profit for shippers on the world maritime market is precisely to recognize in time the future movements of the world economy, the demand for the main cargo carried by a certain type of ship, the growth or decline of the available tonnage of ships, and thus the future movement of freight rates. Then, based on these parameters, either adequate time charter contracts are concluded with charterers, which will have a "reserve" in the amount of the contracted freight rate to iron out possible fluctuations in the market, or (which for Tajić and other managers of Montenegrin maritime companies is obviously unattainable science fiction) travel contracts are made, according to which the company itself finds cargo and work for its ship, and not for the ship's charterer to do it for its own account. As far as the relationship with the company's minority shareholders is concerned, I leave it to them to clarify with the management, both former and current, because both of them already have more than enough "butter on their heads".
Siniša Luković, journalist of ND "Vijesti"
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