The Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted today at its session the Financial Plan of Air Traffic Control of Serbia and Montenegro (SMATSA) for this year, it was confirmed unofficially by "News" from two sources.
"Although the Government of Serbia is dissatisfied with the work of SMATSA at the proposal of the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesić and the Minister of Finance Siniše Malog they decided to adopt the plan", said the "Vijesti" source.
SMATSA is a joint enterprise of Serbia and Montenegro, which monitors the airspace over both countries and the southern part of the Adriatic Sea. It is a highly profitable company financed by fees from airlines, in which Serbia has 92 percent and Montenegro eight percent.
It was temporarily financed for eight months because the Government of Serbia did not approve the Financial Plan for 2024, and then the Supervisory Board did not adopt the Business Plan until 2028.
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The Ministry of Transport officially announced to "Vijesta" that the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) has never imposed sanctions on any member state for failure to adopt a financial plan since its establishment, and that they do not know what the SMATSE Trade Union is basing its claims on.
The SMATSA trade union, employees in Montenegro, recently stated in their letter to the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Agency of Montenegro (ACV) that if the Financial Plan (SMATSA) for 2024 and the Business Plan for the period 2024- are not adopted soon In 2028, Eurocontrol will adopt measures that will greatly damage SMATSA, but also Montenegro.
"Since its establishment in 1963, Eurocontrol has not imposed sanctions on any member country for failure to adopt a financial plan. There are two representative unions in SMATSA, we do not know what these claims are based on, which are also in contradiction with the Eurocontrol Statute. As a ministry, we have certainly emphasized that we are available to everyone for a conversation, as well as to interested trade unions", said the Ministry of Transport. To the question of what are the mechanisms for overcoming the current problems in SMATSA, the Ministry of Transport answered that as far as the answer to this question is concerned, when the financial plan is adopted by the Republic of Serbia, the conditions will be met for the transition from temporary to regular funding.
"The Government of Montenegro adopted the Financial Plan of SMATSA in March 2024. Only the Government of the Republic of Serbia can answer when this plan will be adopted. Serbia is an independent country and its Government makes decisions for which it assumes responsibility. In the past, it also happened that one of the founding states was late in adopting the plan, but that situation was overcome," the Ministry of Transport announced.
SMATSA has a retained profit of 50 million euros on its account.
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