Vukićević: Yesterday's stoppage of trains has a background in attempts to create chaos in ŽPCG through blackmail

"If the Board of Directors and executive management do not find a way to resolve this situation and to prosecute the organizers of yesterday's sabotage, who are suspected of having criminally conspired to create panic and prevent rail traffic, the Ministry of Transport will be forced to take radical steps to the situation in this company would be resolved," said the Minister of Transport

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Photo: Boris Pejović
Photo: Boris Pejović
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The Minister of Transport, Maja Vukićević, said that yesterday's stoppage of trains had its background in the attempts of several people to "bring chaos" in the Railway transport through blackmail, manipulation and evasion of work duties.

"If the Board of Directors and executive management do not find a way to resolve this situation and to prosecute the organizers of yesterday's sabotage, who are suspected of having criminally conspired to create panic and prevent rail traffic, the Ministry of Transport will be forced to take radical steps to the situation in this company would be resolved," the minister announced on Facebook.

She apologized to the citizens for yesterday's situation in ŽPCG and the inconvenience caused as a result of the cancellation of trains that were supposed to run to Nikšić and Bar. "What is important is that the Railway Transport reacted quickly and that alternative means of transport were provided, which certainly cannot diminish the seriousness of yesterday's events," she added.

Vukićević points out that when she took over the Ministry of Transport at the end of July, almost all companies operating within the Montenegrin railway were in an unenviable position.

"Years of carelessness and irresponsible management have led to this. The Ministry of Transport has done everything that is available, related to aid mechanisms within the framework provided for by law, so we also turned to other state bodies in order to improve, first of all, the financial situation in these companies, and the service to citizens was at an adequate level".

He reminds that the Railway Transport specifically receives subsidies in the amount of six million euros from the state, and that, at the request of the Ministry of Transport, they were allowed to have the state be the guarantor for a debt of up to 6,5 million for the obligations of repairs and overhaul of the existing rolling stock.

It is clear, he says, that the rolling stock is old, and that is why 30 million euros have been provided for the purchase of new trains. It is a procedure managed by the Railway Transport.

"At the start of my mandate, I told the managers of the railway transport that the safety of passengers must be imperative and that in case of doubt it is better for the train to be parked than for it to run in a faulty condition, risking the lives of passengers. Having learned from bad experiences in the past, we must take care that this does not happen nothing like that. But yesterday's stoppage of trains unfortunately has its background, in the attempts of a few people to bring chaos to the railway transport through blackmail, manipulation and evasion of work," said Vukićević.

It is true that the trains are old and this is a situation that has existed for many years, but it is also true that yesterday the trains and wagons were taken out of service due to a failure of the tap in the toilet, said the minister, adding that this is "a sufficient indicator what is it really about and what is the background".

"A month ago, it was reported to the Ministry of Transport that workers employed in the state railway transport continued to work for a private transport company operating in the territory of Montenegro after a shift without rest. drives trains for a private carrier without the consent of its parent company. An even bigger problem is that they did it without rest, thus violating the Railway Act and endangering the safety of railway traffic. The findings of the inspection were sent to the Railway Transport, which then proceeded to draw up an Annex in which the workers would undertake not to work for a private transport company without their consent. must be met because there are no people on the labor market to replace them," said Vukićević.

He considers such an approach inadmissible, ill-intentioned, "because if the goal was a constructive agreement, they would have agreed to the offer by which the management offered them an increase in wages for the amount that the company could pay".

"I must mention that most of the workers show constructiveness and that is the reason that the state has not yet resorted to more radical measures, because people who are dedicated and who have spent their working lives on the railways must not be held hostage by irresponsible individuals. However, if the Board of Directors and the executive management do not find a way to solve this situation and to prosecute the organizers of yesterday's sabotage, who are suspected of criminally colluding in order to create panic and prevent rail traffic, the Ministry of Transport will be forced to take radical steps to resolve the situation in this company. I tell the organizers that while I am in this position, I will not allow any blackmail, because neither the citizens nor the state must be held hostage by irresponsible individuals," the Minister of Transport wrote.

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