Due to political fights, employees of the Hydrocarbons Administration without salaries

The employees of the Directorate for Hydrocarbons have not received their salaries since the end of January because there is no one to sign the salary lists, since this administration does not have a director, as the employees informed "Vijesti".

The Government and the relevant Ministry of Capital Investments (MKI) have been informed of this situation, which have not yet resolved this problem, nor is there any indication of when the employees will receive their salaries.

MKI proposed at the beginning of March that the Government choose an acting director Bogdan Fatić for a full term because he is the first-ranked in the competition announced by the Human Resources Administration, but the prime minister Dritan Abazovic at that session, he did not put the proposal to the vote, but said that they would give him another name.

Fatić is an official of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and joined the Administration as an acting official after resigning as a DPS deputy in the parliament.

Yesterday, "Vijesti" officially sent questions to the Prime Minister's Office and the General Secretariat of the Government, what the Government and MKI have undertaken in relation to the solution to the problem of salary payments to employees in the Hydrocarbons Administration and when employees can expect payment. The official e-mail address of the Government Bureau for Public Relations replied that the questions were addressed to the Ministry of Interior.

From the department managed by the minister Ervin Ibrahimovic, to whom "Vijesti" also sent questions about what the department and the Government have undertaken in relation to the solution to this problem and when the employees of this Directorate can expect to receive their salaries, said that they expect consultations in the Government where they will propose a solution to get out of this situations.

"MKI, within its competences, and after procedures in accordance with the competition conducted by the Human Resources Administration, proposed to the Government a candidate for the position of director of the Hydrocarbons Administration, pointing out in particular the problem with employees' salaries. As you know, the proposal was not approved by the Government. We expect to propose a solution after consultations in the Government, in order to get out of this situation as soon as possible, especially considering the unenviable status in which the employees are currently", said the ministry.

The Directorate for Hydrocarbons was formed due to work related to oil and gas exploration in the Montenegrin subsea.

"There are seven permanent employees working in the Directorate for Hydrocarbons, who were paid their salaries on January 31. Two colleagues who were hired under a work contract received their last salary at the end of last year. The reason for the delay in the salary of the employees is the fact that the Administration from January 28, 2023, when the half-year mandate of the acting director expired Bogdan Fatić, without the head of the body, who is the only one in this body who has the authority to sign employees' wages. As a departmental ministry under the jurisdiction of the Directorate for Hydrocarbons, MKI is constantly aware of the problem of unpaid wages of employees. Communication on this topic has been going on since the end of January, but it was not through letters, but in the form of telephone conversations with the secretary of the ministry Mirsadom Bosniak, from which we have not received a solution for this situation. The Deputy General Secretary of the Government is also familiar with this problem. Ilir Harasani, with whose office we had intensive communication, but without a final solution", said one of the employees of the "Vijesti" Management, who wished to remain anonymous.

According to her, the MKI is also informed about obstacles in the performance of daily work tasks, which arise from the fact that the Administration does not have a head of the body.

"The Administration for Hydrocarbons has been without a leader since January 28, when Bogdan Fatić's half-year acting mandate ended. The public competition for the position of director of the Administration was announced on December 19 last year and lasted until January 9," said an employee of the Administration.

At the Government session on March 7, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior Admir Šahmanović officially nominated Fatić for director.

"I propose two points, a proposal for the appointment of the general director of the Directorate for Inspection Affairs in the MKI Mirsad Ćatović and the proposal for the appointment of director of the Directorate for Hydrocarbons Bogdan Fatić. I would like to mention that both candidates passed the legal procedures, i.e., the competition in the Human Resources Administration, and I would especially like to mention the situation in the Hydrocarbons Administration, where there is no one to sign the salaries of the officials, because it was done that way, there are no assistants, nor anyone else has that authority," he said. Šahmanović.

Abazović replied that they should submit another proposal.

"As for the director for hydrocarbons, make another proposal. That's it. I understand the need for salaries, but make another suggestion. There is no reason to explain it now. I think it is clear to everyone that we are talking about well-known names and that's it," Abazović said.