In the first nine months of this year, the company "Maintenance of Railway Rolling Stock" (OŽVS) operated with a loss of 746.084 euros, while the parent company Željeznički prevoz recorded a profit of almost 552 thousand euros in the same period.
This was shown, among other things, by the financial reports of those state railway companies published on the Montenegro Stock Exchange. The Montenegrin railway has been suffering from difficult operations for some time, which is why the state has been working on the merger of OŽVS with its parent company ŽPCG in the last year.
In addition to the business loss, OŽVS is also on the tax list of debtors to the Tax Administration, and their debt as of June 30 of this year was 4,78 million euros.
According to the data, other income from sales was around 1,56 million euros, while operating expenses were 367,6 thousand euros, with 1.669.619 euros allocated for salaries, taxes and contributions in the same period. The company paid 169 thousand euros more for salaries, taxes and contributions this year than in the same period last year.
Thus, the negative business result was almost 390 thousand, which, along with interest, led to a total loss of 746 thousand euros.
On the other hand, ŽPCG performed positively in the same period, i.e. in a profit of 551.959 euros, but compared to the same period last year, this result is worse by almost 420 thousand euros. The accumulated loss is 25,1 million euros.
This company also has a significant debt to the Tax Administration, which at the end of June amounted to a total of 6,4 million euros. Last year, the state returned his loan installments because it provided a guarantee for a debt of 40 million.
ŽPCG earned 3,16 million euros from sales in the first nine months, which is 253 thousand better than the result achieved in the same period in 2023. Despite this, ŽPCG is still not financially sustainable, because the state is still responsible for the largest part of the company's income, of which subsidies amounted to 5,65 million euros this year.
On the expenditure side, the company paid 4.142.148 euros for salaries, contributions and taxes this year. That is 600 thousand euros more than last year, when 3,51 million euros were allocated for the same item. By the end of September, 3,51 million euros were also set aside for business expenses. Thus, the business result amounted to 1,14 million euros, so after allocating for interest and other expenses of 598 thousand euros, a plus of 552 thousand euros was obtained.
The Faculty of Economics in Podgorica conducted a study on the justification of the merger of OŽVS with ŽPCG, which showed that the merger would be justified if it was accompanied by rationalization, a reduction in the number of employees and the total cost of wages. In the Study, it was stated that the merger is necessary because otherwise OŽVS will end up in bankruptcy at this rate, and this would further threaten the development of railway traffic.
Last week, ŽPCG "Vijesta" did not directly answer the question, when these companies will be merged, nor in what time frame must the audit company "Hlb Mont Audit", which is engaged as a consultant in this process, have to complete the work.
"Given that the new executive director (Dragana Lukšić) recently took office, in cooperation with the Board of Directors and the relevant Ministry, all aspects of this process will be thoroughly reviewed, including further activities and time frames. More detailed information about this process will be available after the completion of the mentioned steps, about which the public will be informed", said the ŽPCG.
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