Political games jeopardized the work of Air Traffic Control - SMATSA for eight months on temporary funding due to the moves of the Government of Serbia

The Government of Serbia did not approve the Financial Plan of the joint venture for airspace control, which caused the transition to temporary financing. SMATSA did not answer the questions, an unofficial source says that the current situation threatens planned investments and projects with European partners

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Detail from the SMATSA control room, Photo: SMATSA
Detail from the SMATSA control room, Photo: SMATSA
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Air Traffic Control of Serbia and Montenegro (SMATSA) has been on temporary funding for eight months because the Government of Serbia did not approve the Financial Plan of SMATSA for 2024, which makes the work of Air Traffic Control difficult and prevents the development of necessary investments that would improve the safety of air traffic over Serbia. and Montenegro, "Vijesti.

The Montenegrin Ministry of Transport confirmed this information, but did not want to further comment on the situation.

"The Ministry of Transport is aware that the Air Traffic Control of Serbia and Montenegro SMATSA is on temporary funding and that there are no disruptions in the work of that institution, for any additional information please contact SMATSA", the department announced.

Threatened investments of 30 million

The interlocutor of "Vijesti" from the company said that the unadopted plan envisages necessary investments in improving air traffic safety of 30 million euros, agreed with European partners from the joint control system. Half of that money would be financed by SMATSA from its own revenues, and the other half of the necessary money would be made up of program loans from the European Investment Bank. Of the total amount, investments of five million euros are planned on the territory of Montenegro.

He states that artificially induced temporary financing is now endangering those investments and planned projects with European partners.

The reason for the political takeover of the company?

The "Vijesti" source from SMATSA said that the possible reason why the Government of Serbia did not approve their Financial Plan is of a political nature, i.e. that some members of the ruling party in Serbia want to take over the management of this profitable company with high salaries and employ people in it. people close to you.

"It is indicative that the representatives of the Government of Serbia in the Assembly of SMATSA gave their consent to the Financial Plan, and that later the Government itself does not give its consent. "Neither the Government of Serbia nor its relevant ministry has been informed why they are not giving consent, that is, what is disputed in the Financial Plan", said the source of "Vijesti".

Departmental Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure in the Government of Serbia is Goran Vesić.

According to this plan, the total costs of SMATSA for gross salaries are estimated at 76 million euros, that is, about 60 percent of the income goes only to this cost.

The company had 910 employees last year, so the monthly gross cost per employee would amount to seven thousand euros.

SMATSA is a company in which the state of Serbia has 92 percent ownership, and the state of Montenegro has eight percent. It is responsible for conducting air traffic control over the territory of Serbia, Montenegro and part of the Adriatic Sea, and takes care of the safety of air traffic control. It is financed by collecting route and terminal fees from domestic and international airlines that use this airspace. According to the proposal of the financial plan, the expected revenues of the company this year are 125,3 million euros, while the planned profit is 4,6 million.

The financial plan of SMATSA for 2024 was adopted by the Assembly of that company, which consists of representatives of both countries, back in December last year and sent to the governments of both countries for approval. The financial plan becomes valid when it receives approval from both governments. If it does not receive approval, the company switches to temporary financing, where it can use 12th part of the costs from the previous year for necessary functioning per month, regardless of the fact that SMATSA generates its revenues independently on the market and does not use money from the budget of any state.

They do not answer questions from Belgrade

SMATSA, whose headquarters are in Belgrade, did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" as to why the Government of Serbia did not approve the Financial Plan of SMATSA for the year 2024, how temporary financing affects business and daily work, whether planned investment projects have been suspended or reduced. projects, whether employees' wages are paid in a reduced volume and whether, if this situation continues, the basic role of SMATSA - the safe conduct of air traffic - may be threatened.

Also, the Government of Serbia did not answer the questions why they did not approve the Financial Plan of SMATSA for the year 2024 and whether it will threaten the business of this company.

Threatened interests of Montenegro?

The interlocutor of "Vijesti" from SMATSA said that the Government of Montenegro gave its consent to this financial plan, but that the Government of Serbia did not and that it was not publicly explained why.

"This behavior of the majority owner threatens the interests of the minority (Montenegro) to the extent that it will harm the GDP and the budget of Montenegro by at least a million euros this year and several million euros in the next and subsequent years due to poor implementation of investment projects and endangering the growth of employees' wages, which due to the way of doing business, the income of SMATSA, which is not a budget user and charges for its services from international airlines, will decrease in the coming years", said the source of "Vijesti".

He states that due to the payment of lower wages, as a result of temporary financing, employees will file lawsuits, which will increase the company's costs in the coming period.

The source of "Vijesti" also stated that SMATSA has a status problem in Montenegro itself, which slows down its investment projects and conditions the amendment of the Founding Act.

"The newly appointed deputy director of SMATSA is also aware of everything Rajko Uskokovic, who is appointed to that position by the Government of Montenegro, however, neither he, nor the Government of Montenegro and its other representatives in the management bodies of SMATSA, undertake almost anything to solve these problems. "Montenegro completely ignores its interests in SMATSA and puts them in the hands of the Government of the Republic of Serbia", said the interlocutor of "Vijesti".

Planned improvement of the system

The "Vijesti" source also states that due to temporary financing, investments started earlier can be continued, but not new projects. In the Financial Plan, it was stated that this year they should have started the implementation of key projects.

"The total amount of planned investments in 2024 is higher compared to the expected realization of investments in 2023, primarily taking into account the planned start of the implementation of the project 'Upgrading the TopSky-ATC system to the TopSky-ATC One system'. Bearing in mind the dynamics of the realization of multi-year investment projects, in 2024 the realization of investments that have already started in the previous period, but also for the start of new investments that are necessary for the functioning of the air traffic control system and the continuous provision of services, is planned.

Significant works planned at the SMATSA center in Podgorica

The unadopted Financial Plan of SMATSA envisaged significant works in Podgorica, where part of SMATSA is located in the old airport building.

"The extension of the TKL Podgorica building is planned in accordance with the needs to increase the capacity of the technical hall (which is currently filled with existing equipment and devices and there are no conditions for the installation of new equipment), the expansion of the monitoring room, the change of the layout of the rooms, but also the need to replace the existing electrical -energy (EE) and telecommunication installations (TK) and heating and cooling systems. In addition, it is planned to introduce a stable fire extinguishing system in all rooms of the facility and perform appropriate works on the arrangement of the rooms. The reconstruction and extension of the EE and TK cable infrastructure around the PSS of Podgorica Airport includes the construction of a new cable sewer (except for the part of the route where it is possible to use the existing reserve infrastructure of Podgorica Airport), with the aim of increasing the reliability of the device and the capacity of the telecommunications infrastructure, and ensuring an adequate supply of electricity ", it was stated in the plan. The total estimated value of the extension of the TKL Podgorica building is 3,3 million euros, while the estimated value of the reconstruction of EE and TK infrastructure around PSS Podgorica is 1,6 million euros.

"The expected implementation is in the period 2024-2026. year. Given that the implementation of the Contract on public procurement of technical documentation services is in progress, after the implementation of this contract and obtaining all the necessary permits and consents, the conditions for the implementation of the procedure for the procurement of the works in question will be met. In this regard, in 2024, it is planned to implement the works in question in the amount of about 1,75 million euros", it was stated in the Plan.

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