Crnogorska and Barska plovidba cannot merge under the Law on Business Companies, because both have negative capital.
This was announced by Maritime Minister Filip Radulović at a thematic conference on the rescue of Crnogorska plovidba.
Radulović previously said that the Government was considering a model of merging the two companies in order to get out of business problems, but he now emphasized that this was not possible.
"According to the Law on Business Companies, they cannot merge. That is not possible at all because the companies have negative capital. So that is not an option," he stressed.
The Ministry recently proposed a contract on business and technical cooperation between the two companies, and the reason for this is that Crnogorska practically came close to bankruptcy, and by June of next year at the latest, it will have to return one million euros to Barska, which this company is scheduled to pay in advance for the lease of the ships "Kotor" and "Dvadeset prvi maj". Crnogorska will also have to cede nine percent of all revenues it generates to Barska in the coming period.
Radulović added that the situation in Montenegro is quite bad, that they owe the state 37 million euros, and that the key problem was a loan that they could not repay and because of which the account was blocked.
He reiterated that Montenegro has two ships worth around 30 million euros, and that it would be a shame to lose them, so he believes they have reached a solution.
"The plan is a temporary solution. The government has tasked me with finding a model by the end of the year to avoid bankruptcy and preserve jobs and assets. There is no talk yet of expanding the fleet and selling it, we are far from that," said Radulović.
The director of Crnogorska plovidba, Vladimir Tadić, stressed that he took over the company in February and that the debts to the state arose because the ships were not previously leased for $14.000 and according to the business plan, but for $5.000-7.000 per day to the company "Sea Pioneer". He emphasized that the state therefore had to repay part of the loan, which is why the debt accumulated.
In February, he claims, the market was also bad, so the ships were rented out for $7.750 per day, which is below the cost of maintenance.
He added that they had an arrangement with the charterer, Global American Transport, which owed them around 425.000 euros, so they initiated arbitration to collect it, and that the debt had reached 700.000 euros. He claims that in the meantime, the ship 21. Maj was also stuck in Algeria in February because Global American Transport did not pay 450.000 dollars for fuel to the company Dan Bookerting, so they secured the money by lowering the rent to the next charterer by 2.500 dollars for 20 days.
This, he says, cost them $50.000, while they had to pay back the entire amount through the ship's rent for the next two and a half months, so they had no income. Tadić says that this is why they were unable to repay the overdraft loan to "Prva Banka" and the account was blocked.
"All of this had an impact, and that's why we contacted the Ministry. There is no debt to Exim Bank, only to the state," he emphasized, adding that there were delays in paying salaries and obligations to suppliers.
He pointed out that the minimum daily charter fee for a sustainable business is $8.000, and that this does not include profit, repairs, fleet renewals...
Asked whether the Shareholders' Assembly of Crnogorska would vote for the Government's plan, he emphasized that it depends on the Government representatives because the decision will be binding, but that the most important thing is to solve the business problem.
When asked about the statement by the Mayor of the Municipality, Vladimir Jokić, that he did not understand why Montenegro was entering into such an arrangement even though the other day it could have had a new contract for the time charter of one of its ships under more favorable conditions, Tadić explained that this model was not optimal.
"Time charter is not optimal, it brings losses and it should be changed. I understand Jokić, he protects the economy but he is not sufficiently aware of the whole situation," said Tadić.
The director of Barska plovidba, Boris Mihailović, emphasized that they supported the government's plan because the company would likely find itself in the same situation in a few years.
He emphasized that their ships have been leased for a year at $11.500 per day and that they are liquid, and that by using four ships they will cover any potential downsides of this cooperation with Montenegro.
"We expect that the four ships will transform the business, a process that will last three to four years and enable a change in the way of doing business. Barska has installments until the end of 2032 and a debt of around 25 million euros," said Mihailović.
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