Acting Executive Director of the company "ToMontenegro" Dragani Frantov Nikolic the acting mandate of six months expired at the beginning of October, and the Government has not yet appointed a new acting director, nor has it announced a competition for the election of a new director.
When will one of these two positions be filled, "Vijesti" yesterday did not manage to get an answer from the Ministry of Capital Investments (MKI), nor from the national airline.
In addition, the results of the company's operations are hidden, which is in a huge loss and cannot function without further help from the Government, as the Minister of Finance announced recently at one of the Government meetings. Aleksandar Damjanović.
The questions to which there is no answer from the company are who is currently performing the tasks that are the responsibility of the company's director and in accordance with which law, and who, since the beginning of October, is signing the documents that should be signed by the executive director, that is, the acting executive director.
According to the valid Statute of the company, the choice of directors is under the competence of the Government.
On April 1, the government appointed Dragana Frantov Nikolić as acting executive director, after the previous director Predrag Todorović submitted on February 21 to the Board of Directors and MKI a request for mutual termination of the contract.
After that, an international competition for the election of the executive director was announced on March 18, and the then Board of Directors proposed to the Government in mid-May to appoint the company's executive director Krešimira Kučka, however, this choice was not legally possible because the competition had expired. At that time, the legitimacy of the Board of Directors was also questioned, given that the president resigned Filip Radulović and a member of the Board Goran Đurović. According to the Law on Business Companies, the resignation of one member is considered the resignation of the entire Board, and he was not elected even within the legal term of 60 days from the submission of these two resignations.
On September 13, the Government proposed a new Board of Directors Pavle Ljesar (president), Orhan Hodzic, Suad Đelović, Mirko Škerović i Vukadin Stojanović. At the beginning of the session, Prime Minister Dritan Abazović said that the Board of Directors must be elected urgently, because the company could get into serious trouble.
"Vijesti" asked the national airline if the company has information why the Government did not appoint a new acting director until the election of the director, if they know when the Government will start the procedure for the competition to elect a new director, and if the Board of Directors requested a change statute to the Government in order to transfer the authority to elect directors from the Government to the Board.
"The board of directors of "ToMontenegro" established a proposal for amending the founding act, as well as a proposal for a new statute. As part of the proposed amendments, it is foreseen that the executive director is elected and dismissed by the Board of Directors. "ToMontenegro" will continue to act in accordance with the founder's decisions and within the legal framework", is the company's answer to the questions raised.
MKI told "Vijesti" that they cannot specify when they will propose the company's acting director.
"We remind you that the board of directors was only recently appointed. In this sense, it is to be expected that it takes a certain amount of time for the board members to review and analyze the situation in the company and, in accordance with their assessment, propose to the ministry their view of the situation and possible proposals for resolution. For now, we cannot give a precise answer when such a proposal will be conceived", they said in this government department.
"Vijesti" asked MKI when the government can be expected to choose the director of the company, who should announce the competition, where the candidates would apply and when they will announce the competition.
"The government appoints the director, and at this moment it is ungrateful to give information about when that decision will be made. Bearing in mind the complexity of the situation in the company and on the global air traffic market, it is necessary to consider and propose a quality personnel solution for that position. After consultations at the level of the Government, further steps will be taken in accordance with the procedures", the MKI replied.
From this department, they could not state precisely whether it can be expected that the Government will change the statute of the company and that the election of directors will be entrusted to the Board of Directors of the company. They explained that the amendment of the statute requires consultations and opinions of competent institutions, so it is premature to give any projections or predictions about it before the institutions consider such a possible proposal.
MKI is waiting for the results for nine months of the company's operations
MKI has not submitted the latest data they have regarding the company's business results, and they state that they are waiting for data at the end of the third quarter (end of September).
"As the public already knows, the situation in this aviation company, as well as in the global aviation market, is not enviable. We expect that the company will soon submit data on the business results at the end of the third quarter. Until now, the public was aware of the company's business results, and they will certainly be informed in a timely manner about the proposal, that is, the appointment of the executive director, as well as other activities in the business of the national airline", said MKI.
Fuel prices will affect the financial result
On September 15, the national airline "Vijesta" said in response to the question of the company's business results for six months of this year and nine months that "this business year was very challenging." This is in view of the complex situation marked by the pandemic, the huge increase in the price of fuel, a very unstable market, as well as numerous problems in the aviation industry at the level of the whole of Europe, as well as the events in Ukraine.
"It is certain that the dramatic increase in fuel prices due to unstable economic and geopolitical conditions will have a significant impact on the company's operations and financial results. Before the pandemic, aviation fuel costs accounted for up to 30 percent of the airline's total costs. This year, we expect that share to be even higher, which indicates to what extent it will be reflected in the financial result. If the price of fuel had remained at the level of last year or, for example, in 2019, it is estimated that the company's total costs at this moment would be lower by around five million euros. When we talk about fuel costs from the beginning of this year until now, they amount to over 10 million euros. This is important to note because precisely in the aviation industry where fuel consumption is high, the cost of this type is something that the company has no influence on," explained the company.
As they stated, despite the big jump in fuel prices compared to previous years, they focused on connecting Montenegro with as many different destinations as possible and making it accessible to a large number of regional and foreign tourists, aware of how important the recovery of tourism is for the country.
"Despite all the circumstances, from the beginning of the year until today, we transported more than 250.000 passengers and achieved a growth of 150 percent compared to last year's summer season. We connected Montenegro with 16 different destinations", the company said in mid-September.
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