The company "Oki Air" damaged the state airline "ToMontenegro" for 137 thousand euros by charging passengers at the airports in Podgorica and Ljubljana for the past three years a fee for excess baggage that it did not pass on to the national carrier, while the amount of the claim for the same is still being determined. service at Belgrade Airport, "ToMontenegro" company told "Vijesta" when asked if they had established disputed claims after a year and a half since the opening of the case.
The state carrier ("Air Montenegro" brand) has so far collected about 40 euros from this sum based on book approvals and payment orders, while "Vijesta" said that they have initiated a forced collection procedure for the remaining amount.
The companies "Oki Air Montenegro", "Oki Air" Ljubljana and "Oki Air Internacional" Belgrade provide so-called ground services for "ToMontenegro" at the airports in Podgorica, Ljubljana and Belgrade (baggage weighing, sale of karate and similar services). They have been doing this since the establishment of "ToMontenegra" in June 2021. He was the owner of these companies until May of last year Orhan Hodzic, who previously denied that his companies damaged the state-owned company on whose board he sat.
He was the owner of these companies in September 2022, when he was elected to the board of directors of "ToMontenegro", when, as "Vijesti" previously wrote, he did not report a conflict of interest. "Vijesti" wrote a year and a half ago that there is doubt about the calculation of excess baggage and that the state company has been deprived. As he pointed out in the contract between "Oki Air" and the state airline in June of last year, Hodžić transferred ownership in the companies to relatives and related persons during May of that year, and the then director of "ToMontenegro" Marc Anjour signed new contracts with "Oki Air".
As a member of the board of directors, Hodžić participated in the election of Anžur, and with him, together with the then president of the board of directors Pavlo Ljesar had meetings even before the formal election. Ljesar later publicly admitted that they had contacts with Anžura before the election, but that this did not influence the election.
Member of the board of directors at the time Vukadin Stojanović several times during 2022 and at the beginning of 2023, he warned the management of the company about Hodžić's conflict of interest and that his company was ruining "ToMontenegro". Stojanović was then dismissed. In November last year, the government dismissed the board of directors that included Hodžić and Ljesar, and appointed a new one that included Stojanović.
Anžur was dismissed in July of this year, and since then Stojanović has been the acting director of this state-owned company.
When asked by "Vijesti" whether it was determined how much "Oki Air" damaged "ToMontenegro" and whether that money can be collected, the national airline announced that they determined the amount of claims against the company "Oki Air" at two of three airports.
"Based on the collection of excess baggage at the airport in Podgorica, a claim in the amount of 95.145 euros was established. 'Air Montenegro' issued two book approvals to 'Oki Air': one for 7.740 euros for luggage weighing between 23kg and 24kg, and the second for 13.740 euros for the so-called luggage pooling. Oki Air Podgorica paid 18.180 euros to the national airline, leaving a remaining claim in the amount of 55.485 euros. At the airport in Ljubljana, a claim was established in the amount of 41.885 euros, of which nothing has yet been collected from 'Oki Air Slovenia'. At the airport in Belgrade, the amount of the claim was not established due to the unavailability of data to perform the calculation. The company is continuously working on obtaining adequate data in order to, in case of debt, issue invoices to 'Oka Air Belgrade', the state airline told "Vijesti" to "News".
The companies "Oki Air Montenegro", "Oki Air" Ljubljana and "Oki Air Internacional" Belgrade provide so-called ground services for "ToMontenegro" at the airports in Podgorica, Ljubljana and Belgrade (baggage weighing, sale of karate and similar services). They have been doing this since the establishment of "ToMontenegra" in June 2021
As they stated, in January of this year (after the changes), the company's Board of Directors was informed in detail about the debt of "Oki Air" in Podgorica and Ljubljana, which at that time amounted to slightly more than 100.000 euros, and tasked the management to urgently start collecting claims.
"In the period up to May of the current year, the Board repeatedly demanded a report and continued to insist on the collection of debts owed to the company through conclusions. In the period from January to May, 'Oki Air Podgorica' paid about 8.000 euros, after which the Board ordered the urgent initiation of the collection procedure through the competent authorities. After that, the executive director initiated the procedure of compulsory collection from 'Oki Aira Podgorica' and 'Oki Aira Slovenia', which is in progress", informed "Vijesta".
The counter in Podgorica opened in June and shows an increase in revenue compared to Hodžić's period
The former board of directors, which included Hodžić, avoided making a decision on opening a company counter at the Podgorica airport in order to independently sell tickets and charge a fee for excess baggage, although there was an analysis by the company's expert service that this was justified.
The counter was opened on June 1 this year.
"By engaging its employees and its own system, the company directly took care of passengers. The opening of the counter proved to be fully justified in terms of profitability and functionality. In this way, the company has enabled the generation of direct income from the collection of 'Ticket Service Charges' - TSC (ticket prices) and other services. In addition, the collection of excess baggage in the period from June to August increased by 40% compared to the same period last year", the company answered the question of "Vijesti" whether the opening of this counter at the home airport was justified.
They said that the opening of the counter increased the satisfaction of their passengers, considering that due to the lower prices, compared to those offered by the agency, they have the opportunity to buy more favorable tickets.
"We are also noticing an increase in the direct purchase of tickets for our flights at the airport itself, which increases passenger trust in the company and establishes direct contact with passengers. By opening the company's branded counter, in addition to direct sales and services, additional promotion of the 'Air Montenegro' brand is carried out, along with professional representation of the company's interests", "Vijesta" announced.
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