STEGA: Does the removal of competence from the director of "Plantaž" mean that he is incompetent or suspected of illegality

The economic team of the Strategy for European and Civic Montenegro (STEGA) asked whether, by the changes to the Statute, the executive director of the company "13. Jul - Plantaže" was deprived of the authority to conclude contracts with significant financial amounts both with customers and suppliers without consent of the Board of Directors, means that the executive director is incompetent or suspected of illegality, but he cannot be removed, because that position, "as part of the political spoils, went to the Democratic Front".

They expressed their views regarding the text published two days ago in "Vijesti", under the title "Amended statute of 'Plantaža': The board has more powers, the director has fewer rights.

"Unusual in the business practice so far, to take away the powers of the executive director of such a company to such an extent. In this way, effective management is reduced and decision-making is slowed down through complicated procedures. Especially in a company that has serious problems, and must react quickly in increasingly difficult situations The authority to enter into contracts with significant financial amounts, both with customers and suppliers, without the consent of the Board of Directors, has been revoked but he cannot be replaced because that position, as part of the political spoils, went to the Democratic Front. Based on the information we have, the executive director is the brother of the driver of the Assembly, A. Mandić. He came to the position of executive director, according to the political line , although he has no major work experience and a poor work biography. In the previous company, he briefly held the position of Director of Sales and Marketing, but he had never engaged in a similar job before?! It is very questionable why, as the newly appointed CEO of Plantaž, he did not appoint anyone to the vacant position of Director of Sales and Marketing for two full years," the announcement reads.

The question arises, as they said, whether Čađenovic "carried about the thought that, although inexperienced in this job, he could perform two such important positions alone".

"That the position of Sales Director is unnecessary, especially in times when wine is exposed to fierce competition and when it is increasingly difficult to sell it!? Why didn't the previous Board of Directors, led by the then President Vuksanović, insist on appointing an expert and Director of Sales and Marketing who would make decisions about sales professionally and be responsible for the consequences, which is also specified by the systematization of jobs under the baton of executive director Čađenovic, in a very short period of time they sign extremely high exclusive contracts with customers worth about 50 million euros! positions required by the sale of wine, can conclude multi-million dollar contracts with individual customers!? Available data indicate that sales are difficult to reach in 2019, even though product prices are significantly higher than in 2019, and that the markets of almost all goods are at a significantly higher financial level due to the noticeable increase in prices in recent years. We also know that there is an increasing sale of cheap liter wines in Plantaže, and a smaller sale of premium and more expensive wines, and that the trend is decreasing sales of Montenegrin wines, in contrast to the increasing trend of increasing sales of imported wines," said Stega.

They claim that sales on strategic export markets are dropping significantly, in the millions.

"It is especially questionable whether Komercijala was deliberately weakened, by layoffs and pressure to leave several experienced sales workers who had been successfully performing that job for years and were the sales representatives. What happened that such a serious company allows experienced staff to leave, to give the inexperienced ones authority to make decisions about millions of jobs, to leave vacant, for many years, crucial functions for work in the company, and at the same time to have in the company employees-excluded employees who have worked in these jobs for several decades experience!? Finally, they sell off the best plots in order to provide funds for salaries. The biggest managerial immaturity is reflected precisely when these two things happen, the loss of personnel and the loss of production resources," they add.

These are, as they say, disqualifying results for management, but it "requires sirens to sound the alarm" in the Board of Directors, which includes representatives of the majority state capital, as well as other representatives.

"And finally, at the moment when the new Chairman of the Board, Mr. Tripkovic, with experience in management structures and extensive experience in sales comes to the head of the company, Executive Director Čađenovic promptly appoints his right-hand man, to the vacant position of Sales Director, Mr. V. If Mr. Čađenovic did not consult with the newly arrived Director of the Board, but appointed the Director of Sales only after his arrival, the best answer is given by the Board's decision that the Executive Director cannot in the future chooses management members without the consent of the Board, nor that the executive director has the authority to conclude larger financial sums with customers and suppliers. It is obvious that the new president and the Board of Directors will not cover: doubtful, business problems, but they will have to have the courage to make decisions about some much more important matters than the decisions on the sale of highly potential land for the development of Plantation, which happened in the recent period, and at the same time received a number of criticisms from the public. We will agree that even below-average personnel can sell land and property that has been preserved for decades and thus cover the mistakes and bad decisions in the management and management structure that came to correct all the bad things of the former government. Let's not, even after four years and such bad results, just say that the 'previous set' is to blame for everything, because it has obviously already found out its 'sins', and it's really time to see if there are better ones, or maybe even worse ones," they say. from Stega.

They said that, since it is the end of the business year, they will make an effort to get "real data, both natural and financial, as well as the state of vineyards and orchards, the state of equipment, etc.," in accordance with the Law on Free Access to Information.

"After all, there is an obligation towards the shareholders to be fully informed. We will check the data and we will not accept faking business results. Too many strange things happened in Plantaže, which by the way, for four full years since the arrival of the 'new management', only recorded negative results expressed in tens of millions of euros? "We believe that many entities in the country must be involved as soon as possible, so that it is not too late for this world-famous company and the leading brand of Montenegro. It will certainly be," the announcement reads.