The largest state-owned companies, which performed positively, generated a profit of 80 million euros last year, while the sum of losses of those that performed poorly was 8,2 million euros, according to data from the financial reports of 22 companies whose sole or majority owner is the state.
Of this group of the largest state-owned companies, 16 had a positive result last year and six showed losses.
A year earlier, these state-owned companies, which were then in the black, had a combined profit of 126 million euros, while the combined loss of those that had a negative result was 10,2 million euros.
Two went from minus to plus, and three from plus to minus.
In 2023, 17 of these companies had a positive result, and five had a negative one. For this period, "Plantaže" and the "Simo Milošević" Institute went from minus to plus, while Skijališta Crne Gore, Barska and Crnogorska plovidba went from plus to minus in 2023.
Of these 22 companies, ten have accumulated profits from previous years. The sum of their accumulated profits at the end of last year was worth 249 million euros. In accordance with the percentage of state capital, the Government could theoretically withdraw about 207 million from this, but such decisions are difficult to expect given the investment and other obligations of these companies.
The reason why the combined profit of these companies last year was 46 million euros lower than the year before is primarily due to the weaker results of the energy companies Elektroprivreda (EPCG) and Crnogorski elektroprenosni sistem (CGES). EPCG formally achieved a lower profit of 42 million, but in fact this was mostly due to the accounting entry of the assets of the former Steel Plant in 2023. EPCG purchased this asset for 20 million euros, but after the purchase, when it was introduced into EPCG's balance sheet, its value was estimated at almost 52 million euros. According to accounting rules, if the purchased asset is valued at a higher amount than the one for which it was purchased, the difference must be reported as income in that year. Thus, EPCG reported the difference of 31,9 million euros as income in 2023, which also affected the increase in profit by that amount.
EPCG had a worse hydrological year last year, and the regular overhaul of the Thermal Power Plant lasted almost a month longer, all of which contributed to a decrease in revenue and a weaker result.
CGES had reduced profits by 11 million euros, primarily due to lower electricity traffic through Montenegrin territory and the use of the submarine cable to Italy by international energy companies and traders.
The coal mine achieved almost the same net profit of 15 million euros last year.
Three energy companies accumulated profits of 200 million
The largest energy companies EPCG, CGES and Rudnik uglja have a combined accumulated profit of 200 million euros. However, it is not possible to expect that the Government will call on them to pay part of the profits into the budget. For EPCG and Rudnik uglja, this year will be the most difficult in business so far because the Pljevlja thermal power plant is out of production from April 1 to November 15 due to the completion of environmental reconstruction. EPCG is therefore importing large quantities of electricity at higher prices than it sells to its consumers. To discover these losses and continue investments, it is using the accumulated profit from previous years.
The coal mine has been without its most important income for the past seven months, as it has been selling over 90 percent of its coal to the thermal power plant. It is also spending part of its accumulated profits to cover costs and finance the relocation of the Ćehotina riverbed to create a new mine.
It is also unrealistic to expect CGES to pay a significant dividend of 49 million euros of retained earnings, due to the decisions of the Energy Regulatory Agency to return a portion of previously approved revenues to consumers. In recent years, the company has earned more money from fees for the use of transmission capacities and the cable to Italy than was included in the calculation of prices for domestic consumers. Therefore, the Agency decided at the end of last year to reduce the amount of the CGES fee on electricity bills starting this year, and will continue to do so in the following years. Therefore, the company is keeping most of its accumulated profits in reserve so that the reduction in prices for domestic customers does not jeopardize the company and its investments in the transmission network.
Of the other state-owned companies, Airports of Montenegro have significant accumulated profits, 17,6 million euros, Morsko dobro 10,5 million, Budvanska rivijera 6,6 million, Monteput 6,1 million, Marina Bar 3,7 million, Post Office 3,7 million, Regional Water Supply 2,6 million...
By the end of June, the managements of these companies need to decide whether and how much of their profits they will pass on to the state and other co-owners, and how much to keep for their planned investments. Airports are waiting to see if they will get a tenant or if the retained profits will finance the necessary investments at the airports, Monteput was previously obliged to use its profits to finance the preparation of project documentation for the next sections of the highway and expressways, Marina Bar recently lost a 15-year-old dispute worth around 800 thousand, which it can pay from its profits, Morsko dobro, Budvanska rivijera, Regionalni vodovod also have planned investments...
224 government-owned companies accumulate losses of 12 million
Twelve companies from this group of the largest state-owned companies have accumulated losses, and their sum amounts to 12 million euros.
Individually, the largest accumulated loss is recorded by "Plantaže" at 44 million euros. It is positive that the company achieved a positive result last year for the first time since 2019, although these earlier positive results are questionable given the negative assessments of the auditors at the time. The company's plan is to get out of the crisis by selling the land it is not using after new spatial plans are adopted, which would change its purpose from agricultural to construction.
The chronic loser, Railway Infrastructure, has an accumulated loss of 39,8 million euros, and has continued to worsen its business results. The other three railway companies also have accumulated losses - Railway Transport (ŽPCG) of 25,5 million, Montekargo 9,9 million and Railway Rolling Stock Maintenance (OŽVS) of 9,1 million euros. There is no clear plan from the Government to improve their business operations, other than the merger of OŽVS and ŽPCG, which was decided back in February 2024. The total accumulated loss of the four railway companies is 84 million euros.
CEDIS has accumulated losses from previous years due to a dispute regarding regulatory prices for purchasing electricity for technical losses. They had to buy electricity at stock exchange prices that were many times higher than the amount they could recover from consumers. This was corrected two years ago, and now the company is operating positively.
The two shipping companies together have accumulated losses of 30 million euros. The government's long-standing plan is to merge and rationalize them, but it is not being implemented.
The Igalo Institute has an accumulated loss of 28,9 million euros, but since last year it has finally started operating positively and through the restructuring process in the next four years this minus would be annulled.
The Port of Bar has an accumulated deficit of 12,1 million euros and is slowly reducing it because it started operating positively four years ago. The Ulcinj Riviera also has an accumulated deficit of one million euros, as does the new company Skijališta Crne Gore of 220 thousand euros.
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