One year ago, on March 13, 2023, with the presence of the highest state and local officials, the first, as it was said at the time, state ferry in Montenegro - "The Thirty August" - was put into traffic in Lepetani, and to this day the promise that the Municipality of Tivat has not been fulfilled and Herceg Novi to be part of this project, that is, to enable them to participate in the management structure of the state operator of this ferry line and to participate in the distribution of profits from this business.
The management of the Public Enterprise for the Management of the Marine Asset "Vijesti" did not answer the question of when Tivat and Herceg Novi will be able to do so.
The 53-year-old ship was bought by Morsko dobro in Croatia. The government of then Prime Minister Dritan Abazović previously provided this state-owned company with the legal prerequisites to, in addition to its previous main business of renting out beaches and temporary facilities on the coast, start dealing with the maritime transport of goods and passengers, so that the company could take over the ferry operation in Boka from the previous operator - private of the "Marine Traffic" company.
On March 13th of last year, the "Thirtieth August" under the sign of Morski Dobr loaded the first vehicles and passengers and set sail on the line across the Veriga Strait, where only a small ferry had been sailing for a month since the Maritime Traffic was put out of business. Vasilije" which was given to the state free of charge by the company Briv Construction from Kotor.
At that ceremony, Abazović said that Montenegro is returning to itself, returning to seafaring as well.
"It is true, these are not new ships, but these are new trends - trends that the state will work on the purchase of new local ferries, but also ferries for the Bar-Bari and Bar-Ancona line and on the development of shipping," Abazović pointed out, saying that " we have nothing against the private sector, but tycoon politics must end."
In the meantime, the state did not buy a ferry for the line to Italy, but for more than eight million euros, the competent fleet of the former private operator Pomorski sabrojek, whose co-owner and director Dejan Bana Abazović called out for enriching himself behind the backs of the state and the interests of citizens.
The mayor of Tivat, Željko Komnenović, welcomed at the ceremony on March 13, 2023, the takeover of the ferry line in Boka by the state, pointing out that it follows his and the efforts of the leaders of Herceg Novi and Kotor to defend the public interest.
"We are on our way to satisfy the public interest and finally, funds that have been going into private pockets for years, now go to the local infrastructure and, above all, help to the residents of Lepetan and Kamenar, who suffered the most from this work," said Komnenović, adding that in the next step in the development of this business, the Government, Morsko dobro and the municipalities of Tivat and Herceg Novi must agree on how these two local governments will participate in the management structure and share the profits of the state operator of the ferry line in Boka.
An agreement between the two municipalities of Bokele and the state regarding the management and distribution of the profits generated by the ferry has not been reached to date, nor have the residents of Tiv and Novlja received the requested participation in the management of the newly formed Sector for Maritime and Coastal Transport in Morski Dobr, even though the administrations of both cities have been involved on several occasions. publicly demanded. Even less, Tivat and Herceg Novi received part of the money from the earnings generated by the ferry line on their territory, which the leaders of Morski Dobr and the former government often boasted about in the meantime.
The President of the Board of Directors of the Sea Dobr, Blažo Rađenović, said at a ceremony in Lepetani last year that the company "today has received a business that is at the level of the entire annual income of the Sea Dobro from all the other 300 kilometers of our coast".
"The loss of the monopolistic position of the owner of the Maritime Transport, who is the godfather of the current president of the state, Milo Đukanović, did not only hurt privileged individuals, but also those who had small benefits from this monopolistic business worth tens of millions of euros, so they put themselves at the service of the privileged individuals", said Mladen Mikijelj, director of the Maritime Dobr at the time.
Morski Dobr did not answer the questions "Vijesti" sent on Wednesday about the financial benefits of the Municipality of Tivat and Herceg Novi in the past year (March 13, 2023 - March 13, 2024) from the launch of the "Trideseti August" ferry, as well as how much money the company has invested in the development of coastal infrastructure and other projects on the coast in Kamenari and Lepetani in the past year. Among the questions was that the leaders of the company present their position regarding the dissatisfaction of the local administrations of Tivat and Herceg Novi due to the non-fulfillment of their demands to provide them with adequate participation in the management and distribution of the profits generated by the ferry transportation of Sea Goods in Boka.
They also remained silent on the question of whether Mikijelj and Rađenović stand by their assertion from a year ago that the "Third of August" ferry is supposedly "in excellent technical condition", considering the fact that only ten days after being put into traffic, this ship had an incident - a breakdown with the start of a small fire in the engine room, and that in one year he sailed for only seven months. That ship received a temporary certificate of technical fitness for navigation from the Administration of Maritime Safety and Port Management of Montenegro on two occasions, which expired on October 21 last year. A few days before that, it was pulled out of traffic and put in storage in Lipci, where it is still located, waiting for Morsko to complete the tender procedure for its overhaul estimated at half a million. Without this overhaul, the ship cannot receive a new certificate of technical suitability for navigation and return to commercial use.
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