A decision on the ferry may come soon, but they don't say when

The Investment Agency (AZI) believes that the regulation of the status of the only ferry line in the country on the route Lepetene - Kamenari in Boka Kotorska according to the public-private partnership (PPP) model, can be realized relatively quickly, without specifying the time period when it would be.

The Agency established by the state for the implementation of the Law on Public-Private Partnerships told "Vijesta" that based on the official position of the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare, which was given at the request of the Ministry of Capital Investments (MKI), a decision was made that the provision of ferry transportation services between piers, a public service subject to the application of the PPP Law.

"According to the existing Law, PPP is a long-term contractual relationship between a public and a private partner, based on the division of rights, obligations and risks for the purpose of performing works of public interest on public infrastructure and facilities (public works) and/or providing services of public interest (public services) ", was announced to "Vijesta" from the Agency headed by the acting director Mladen Grgić.

The Ministry of Capital Investments (MKI) promised that the procedure for awarding the concession would be completed by the end of 2021, which did not happen. Instead of announcing a tender for the award of a concession, as it is awarded everywhere in the world, the state recently changed its strategy and plans to award the ferry line to an operator based on the PPP model. This practice is very rarely applied anywhere abroad, and almost never when it comes to commercially very profitable ferry lines such as Lepetane - Kamenari, where ferries transport more than a million vehicles of all categories annually, and its current operator, the company Pomorski sabroček, makes millions of profits annually . According to the PPP model in the world, as a rule, operators are assigned unprofitable lines that are subsidized by the state in order to operate at all, because their maintenance is in the public interest. The state's intention to award the ferry line in the future according to the PPP model was also criticized by the Pomorski sabražen company, stating that this procedure is more complicated than the concessionary one, that according to their estimation, it could last from two to four years and that, according to their knowledge, this would be the first PPP pilot project in Montenegro.

Maritime transport was state-owned until 2005, and from 2004 until today, it operates on the basis of a lease contract for parts of the sea coast - piers in Lepetani and Kamenari concluded with Morski dobro. That contract expired in 2018 and the former Prime Minister's Government Duško Marković extended it indefinitely, i.e. until the tender is announced. The former Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs was supposed to prepare and implement the concession procedure, which was not completed. Outgoing Government Prime Minister's Government Zdravka Kriviokapića, that is, the relevant minister of capital investments Mladen Bojanic promised to announce the tender and award the concession by the end of 2021, but that did not happen. In the meantime, the MKI, although the regulation of maritime traffic has excluded its jurisdiction and has a legal basis for granting a concession in the Maritime Navigation Safety Act, which it is obliged to implement, decided to involve the Ministry of Finance in the whole story, which brought everything back to the beginning, demanding that the procedure is based on the PPP Law instead of the Law on Concessions. Therefore, the Administration of Maritime Safety and Managed Ports, which implements this procedure, is currently in the stage of public procurement of the "Analysis of justification for transportation by ferry Kamenari - Lepetani".

Analysis of justification is important

"The key document for the preparation of PPP projects is the preparation of justification analyses. During its preparation, public interest realization of PPP projects, environmental impact, risk assessment and technical, financial and economic effects of the proposed project are particularly taken into account. Justification analysis tells which is the right way. This is not someone's lump-sum assessment, but the result of a comprehensive analysis that is done according to thoroughly established protocols", said the Agency.

The Agency reminded that the procedure according to the Law on PPP stipulates that after the analysis, the public contracting authority (Administration, that is, MKI) submits the PPP project proposal for opinion to the Agency, the Ministry of Finance and the Protector of Property and Legal Interests, and when the competent institutions approve the project proposal, it is registered The register of projects, and then the client prepares the tender documentation and continues with the procurement process.

"The deadlines for bidding are not those stipulated by the law - they can be significantly shorter, and considering the fact that there is an institutional framework in Montenegro, by combining strength and resources, the public and private sectors are able to work together to achieve common goals." point out from the Agency, alluding to criticism from Maritime Transport that all this will take at least another two to four years. The Agency also claims that "public-private partnership gives space for financial savings to the state, and provides greater efficiency compared to independent activities of the public sector, that is, the same or better quality of services is provided for less money." However, when it comes to the ferry line in Boka, the state does not procure anything, nor does it pay the ferry operator, but he earns a lot of money by providing services on the basis of a hitherto, very poorly regulated monopoly in the use of one public resource (the sea and the pier) that is his made possible by the state without a formal concession.

Until now, there has been no realization of projects according to the PPP model

If the allocation of the use of the ferry line is based on the PPP model, it will be the first project that the Agency will implement, because so far it has not implemented any example of a partnership between the state and private interest, nor has there been any such type of project.

The Agency claims that PPP in Montenegro is positioned on the best international foundations, with the view that by applying standards that represent the good practice of developed countries, investors can be guaranteed the same regulatory standards as they are used to in Western European countries.

"The choice for PPP models is not only based on the benefits of risk sharing, but also on the serious know-how values ​​that the private partner brings with the investment. This mainly refers to the need for the construction of new public infrastructure, the reconstruction of existing public infrastructure and facilities, and additionally the improvement of quality in the provision of public services", the Agency says, but without explaining what new know-how regulation of the PPP ferry line can bring.

The Agency says that PPP is the state's chance to secure greater values ​​through new investment projects with a reliable partner, who is chosen through a transparent and non-discriminatory process.