The Civil Aviation Agency (ACV) is managed by an executive director Ivan Šćekić is preparing a new systematization of workplaces, which is expected to almost double the number of employees, from the current 49 to 92, "Vijesti" learned from several sources.
"Most of the new systematized jobs are not related to aviation," claims one of the "Vijesti" sources.
Unofficially, it was clarified that a new rulebook on systematization is being drafted, which was also confirmed by the CAA. When it is in the form of a proposal, the advice of that institution must be declared.
According to unofficial information, the Ministry of Transport, which is headed by a minister Maja Vukićević is not familiar with management plans, nor does the Agency have the obligation to submit the systematization act to the ministry.
The interlocutor of the newspaper claims that, despite this, the Ministry of Transport will officially warn the Agency if that proposal becomes official and ask for an explanation on how they justify such an increase in the number of workers.
"According to the procedure, the CAA director proposes a systematization that the Council should approve. This topic was discussed at one session of the Council, whose president is Dženan Kolic opposed, but he is in the minority", the source of "Vijesti" pointed out.
The ACV trade union and part of the aviation experts express reservations about the way in which the conditions for the professional qualification of a part of the employees are defined in the new systematization, especially those who should deal with highly specialized jobs related to aviation safety and security.
This was violated by "Vijesti", which had insight into the proposal for a new systematization of the ACV, from several sources. They claim that the systematization has not been adopted at the CAA Council session so far because President Dženan Kolić opposes it.
Kolić did not directly answer the question of "Vijesti" why he opposed the adoption of the systematization proposed in this way at the session of the CAA Council. CAA submitted a response from the management with which they say, and Kolić also agreed, in which they state that "the CAA Council is familiar with the proposal for the Rulebook on the organization and systematization of workplaces, which was submitted by the CAA director in accordance with the Statute", but that material not considered.
"Considering that the proposal of the Rulebook was not considered and that there were no declarations by members and the president of the Council at the last session of the ACV Council, no one could object to it. The public will be informed in a timely manner about the outcome of the statement on this important act, when the conditions are met. When the Council considers the proposal of the Rulebook, five days earlier, a trade union representative of CAA will be invited to attend the session, in accordance with the Labor Law", they said from CAA.
The Agency pointed out that the goal of the Council and the head of the CAA is to, with the help of the new systematization, among other things, "make the work in the CAA more efficient, as well as to eliminate numerous irregularities and to prevent long-standing practices, including inadequate employment in narrowly defined areas for which experience is required”.
"Given that the systematization has not fundamentally changed since the establishment of ACV 15 years ago, the key goal of the new business organization is - more expertise and work through the job description for the wages that employees receive and must justify, which are among the highest in the country in accordance with the responsibilities that has ACV. This important act will be available to the public when we have the final document, after the Council adopts it. It is irresponsible to speak publicly about the details of the proposal that is still in the process of consideration and where certain changes may occur, in cooperation with the Council", said the Agency.
Creative interpretations
According to the new systematization, the number of jobs in the CAA will be increased from the current 49 to 92. Part of the professional public considers this to be excessive, taking into account the scope of the CAA's work and the size of the air force in Montenegro, for which this Agency is the main controller. and regulator.
"One Croatia, which has eight airports, incomparably more voluminous air traffic than ours, and four major airlines and a number of other smaller air traffic service providers, has 80 employees in its Agency, and Montenegro now allegedly needs even more than that. This would not even be such a problem if, according to the new systematization, adequate professional training and experience of people who will cover some very important and from the point of view of safety and security of air traffic, very sensitive jobs in ACV are required", claims a well-informed source. News”.
The ACV did not answer how many jobs are planned in total by the new systematization, and how many more or fewer there are than now. They announced that the public will be familiar with the systematization when the Council adopts it in its final form.
"During the drafting of the proposal for this act, numerous legal and by-law provisions were taken into account, as well as established findings and recommendations of international organizations such as ICAO, EASA, ECAC and the EC", say the ACV.
The Agency claims that the "News" was provided with "unofficial and inaccurate information, as well as creative interpretations and presentation of details from the proposal that has not yet been considered and adopted, and therefore not final."
"It is obvious that this is a futile attempt to obstruct changes in the Agency", said the ACV management.
They rejected as "absolutely incorrect" the claims of the "Vijesti" source that behind the new systematization proposal is one of the managers who, through systematization, wants to seize broad powers with which she could in practice control the entire Agency.
They say that the proposal for that act was made by Šćekić who, according to the Statute, as a director, is responsible for proposing the systematization of workplaces. "The Director of the Agency, who is familiar with almost all development phases of CAA over a period of 14 years, did so after intensive work, with consultations with those who have knowledge and competence, some of whom are union members themselves. We also point to the experience of the director of the Agency, who has gone through every level of work in the aviation authority, starting with an internship, through supervisory and inspector positions and sector director to the position of ACV director", the Agency emphasizes, noting that the Air Traffic Act does not provide obtaining the consent of the relevant Ministry of Transport on the new systematization proposal.
According to the proposal of that document, a management position of a new segment of the Agency - Sector for compliance and joint affairs was drawn for one manager. For that sector, as proposed, the "compliance monitoring" function is only secondary, and the main ones are assuming full responsibility and control over the CAA's departments for international cooperation, for legal and general affairs, that is, for finance, accounting and public procurement.
"Vijesti" sources believe that the manager, who is a telecommunications engineer by profession, and not air traffic, cannot cover all aspects of ACV's work with quality.
The management of the Agency, however, rejects it as "unfounded evaluations that are just another proof that individuals from CAA, dissatisfied with their personal ambitions, are trying to fight for what is not theirs according to the results of their work".
"We appreciate that this is an attempt by individuals from the Agency to target one of the most competent staff of the CAA, whose responsibility is not to develop systematization proposals, and unacceptable and inaccurate personal perceptions are defined as "she gave herself broad authority to control the entire Agency". Regarding the qualification with which it achieves work results, it is authoritative and particularly important that the compliance monitoring system was assessed by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), during the February inspection. The official report praised the achieved results of the compliance monitoring system," the Agency states, adding that the responsibility for controlling the work and the final results of the ACV rests with the director "and the management who will be elected on the basis of prescribed conditions, work results and professional references, and the best interest of the Agency."
"This cannot be influenced by unfounded personal perceptions and attempts to pressurize through the media," said the Agency.
Union comments
It is for the union, according to the letter sent to the ACV director these days by the president of the union Jovan Popovic and into which "Vijesti" has an insight, problematic new work organizations of the Agency, the number of new jobs, as well as the required qualifications of some of the expected executors.
"In the Agency, there is already a lack of work space for current employees, so we are of the opinion that, in the case of the adoption of the proposed Rulebook, which would obviously significantly increase the number of jobs, it is necessary to urgently address the problem of space capacity in order not to seriously disrupt the basic working conditions. At the same time, we wonder why the Agency would not announce an internal competition for heads of sectors and departments (even for managerial positions), bearing in mind that for the mentioned management positions (except for one) work experience in management is not required. Wouldn't that be a step towards appointing the best and most competent, and at the same time set a positive example for all other institutions in Montenegro? ", it says, among other things, in the letter of the Union.
The union urges that, due to the numerous shortcomings that they recognize in the new systematization, "we should take a step back in order to start an honest consultative process including all employees and so that through joint efforts we can achieve an internal organization and systematization of workplaces that corresponds to the real work and needs of the Agency. and to the satisfaction of all of us".
The CAA said that it will "communicate the comments on the Union's opinion in detail when there is a Council session where this important proposed act will be considered, in the presence of a union representative".
"For the first time since the establishment of the Agency, the systematization proposal was sent to the trade union in a timely manner, precisely for the purpose of transparency and obtaining opinions and proposals. The director and the Council of the Agency are responsible for the organization of the work. However, all constructive and arguments-based proposals, which do not fall within the competence of the trade union, will be respected, and the final word will be given by the Council of the Agency", according to the management.
Vukićević is preparing to replace Mrdak
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", Minister of Transport Maja Vukićević will initiate the dismissal of a member of the ACV Council next week. Velibor Mrdak.
"The basic state prosecution requested information from the Ministry of Transport in a letter about whether Mrdak is in a conflict of interest, that is, whether he has an ownership stake in Aero-club Nikšić. Vukićević, based on a letter from the Ministry of Sports and Youth, told ODT that she has a share of 20 percent," said the source of "Vijesti".
A whistleblower from the Civil Aviation Authority filed a criminal report with the Prosecutor's Office for the alleged commission of the criminal act of false declaration that there is no conflict of interest in accordance with Article 8 paragraph of the Air Traffic Act. In the application, it is claimed that Mrdak was a co-owner of the sports club Aero-club Nikšić with a 20 percent share at the time of the competition for the election of a member of the ACV Council.
Mrdak replied to "Vijesti" in May that this is not true and that he remains available to all relevant state bodies and institutions for possible further clarifications.
"According to the data available to the Ministry of Sports and Youth, Velibor Mrdak is the founder of Aero-Klub Nikšić, with a 20 percent ownership stake," the Ministry of Sports replied to "News" in May.
The law on air transport defines that the president and members of the CAA Council must not have a conflict of interest, that is, they cannot be persons who are employed or are owners or co-owners or members of the management body of legal entities that perform operations in the field of transport.
Kolić did not directly answer the question of "Vijesti" why he opposed the adoption of the proposed systematization at the last session of the ACV Council. The CAA submitted a response from the management with which they say, and Kolić also agreed, in which they state that "the CAA Council is aware of the proposed Rulebook submitted by the CAA director in accordance with the Statute", but that this material, allegedly , was not considered.
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