ToMontenegro: Claims breakdown has not been done yet

Regarding the text "Oki Air won the contract, the whistleblowers were dismissed", which was published in "Vijesti" on June 29, they sent a response from the company "To Montenegro", whose executive director is Marc Anjour. We transmit their answer in full.

"To Montenegro" doo, as a respectable domestic company, which represents the only national air carrier, is hereby forced to respond to a series of unfounded and unargued accusations in the disputed text.

To begin with, absolutely incorrect and malicious information about the allegedly calculated claims of 70.000 euros that our company has against its partner "Oki Air", for the simple reason that the cross-section of debts and claims is done periodically, i.e. it has not been done yet, and its creation is in progress. As the cross-section of mutual claims, on the date of publication of this text, has not yet been implemented, and as the executive director of the company clearly stated in your media, any speculation about the existence of debt or its amount is frivolous, unprofessional and aimed solely at trying to discredit our company . In the disputed text, it is presented as if the debt of 70.000 euros undoubtedly exists, without citing a single piece of evidence. It is important to emphasize that the contract in question is covered by a bank guarantee in favor of our company, and even if the mentioned debt exists, "ToMontenegro" is more than protected, with a many times larger guarantee.

Furthermore, related to the allegations that a member of the Board of Directors Orhan Hodzic is in an alleged conflict of interest, our company will leave that part to the state authorities for assessment, not wanting to interfere in the work of any authority. What we are obliged to mention for the sake of the public is that the contracts in question with the companies "Oki Air" in Podgorica, Belgrade and Ljubljana were signed before the then owner of the company was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of "ToMontenegra", and this fact speaks for itself. attachment groundlessness of allegations from the disputed text.

The text also states that the Board of Directors previously rejected the proposal to open branches, which is also incorrect and unverified information. The board of directors never considered the analysis of the justification for opening branches, because the analysis itself was never done. For a serious analysis, a serious study is also needed, and the same is, at the current stage of the company's development, more than unnecessary, because the opening of a branch is financially unprofitable, given the scope of work of the new company. Taking into account the prices of lease, manpower, utilities and other costs, compared to what our company pays the external partner for that job, it is easy to conclude that there is no financial interest of the company in this at the moment. The above does not mean that with the expected development of the company in the future, the opening of branches will not be an integral part of the development, on the contrary.

Finally, the mention of the meeting on March 10 of this year, where the company's development strategy was allegedly handed over to the current executive director, which was done by the then member of the board of directors and the counter-candidate for the position of executive director, Mr. Stojanović, is unfounded. No meeting was organized since March 10, and therefore no material or minutes from the meeting exist, which is easily verifiable by looking at the business documentation of our company.

The most tragicomic thing in the whole story is the fact that the mentioned strategies were not even evaluated during the selection of candidates, and the fact that Mr. Stojanović, whom your media quotes in the controversial text, was an opponent who was not elected, speaks volumes about the motive of his performance. It is equally important to present confidential information from the company, which was done by a former member of the Board of Directors, about which the competent authorities will be informed.

All of the above is also known to the former members of the Board of Directors of our company, from whom we expected them not to channel their personal dissatisfaction with their dismissal onto the company of which they were a managing part until yesterday. For the sake of publicity, we add that the "displacement" of alleged "whistleblowers" is not the job of our company, nor does it have the right to appoint and dismiss members of the Board of Directors, but only the founder, the Government of Montenegro, does that.

In this regard, connecting their dismissal with their proposals or suggestions that they made to their colleagues, as they themselves state in the last nine months, obviously has no points of contact with their dismissal.

If that were the case, if they were the same well-intentioned whistleblowers, and if there was a chase against them, wouldn't the founder, the Government of Montenegro, have waited nine months to replace them? Why did they not resign when the company was not operating legally under their leadership until yesterday? Why didn't they file criminal charges, etc.? Already, literally a day after the dismissal, they addressed the media with unfounded and unargued blanket allegations.

From all of the above, it is clear that it is not a concern for the welfare of the company, but unfortunately, it is rather a matter of reasons of personal dissatisfaction with the decisions of the founder of the company, who decided to give a chance in the Board of Directors to other persons.

In the end, the management of the company "To Montenegro" and all employees make maximum efforts and are dedicated to operational tasks and tasks, performing regular and series of charter flights, contributing to a successful tourist season, quality service, welcoming and seeing off passengers, and above all to their safety and security.

And ND Vijesti, like all other media in Montenegro, is our partner in the development of our national company, and we are sure that we all have a common interest in its development.

We inform the public that at the end of September, near the end of the tourist season, we will organize a press conference of the board of directors and the executive director, in order to present the results and answer all the questions that are topical these days, and will be topical in the future, and until then we would like to propose to the media and public to focus on strategically important things, the development of the season and the aspiration to achieve the best possible business results.

The answer of "Vijesti" journalist Goran Kapor on Monday