None of the state bodies in the system of executive, judicial and prosecutorial authorities show any interest in the fact that the expensively paid property of all citizens of Montenegro - a passenger aircraft of the type "Embraer E195" (4O-AOC) It has been failing at Podgorica airport for almost five years.
This is a summary of the responses that "Vijesti" received from several state institutions that are supposed to deal with the fate of the plane, which cost 44 million dollars when new.
This aircraft, popularly called “Charlie”, has been out of service since December 2020 and the bankruptcy of the former national airline Montenegro Airlines (MA), in whose fleet it flew, and is unprotected and not stored in accordance with the standards applicable in the aviation industry for aircraft that go into so-called “long-term storage” (temporarily withdrawn from use), lying in the open, on the apron of the airport in Podgorica. The aircraft is rapidly deteriorating, with no indication that the state of Montenegro, which officially owns it, will do anything to prevent its further depreciation in the near future.
“Charlie” bought the MA in 2010 by taking out a loan from the Brazilian bank BNDS, to which the former national airline paid a total of $38 million in installments before bankruptcy. The remaining $2020 million was paid to the BNDS bank last year by the government, which was the guarantor of the MA loan. If the government did not pay off the plane in full, the government would have to return “Charlie” to the Brazilians in perfect working order and thus lose all the money that had been paid for the plane up to that point. However, since “Charlie” was not properly stored when it landed in December XNUMX, it has been rapidly deteriorating. A lot of money needs to be invested in order to return it to flying condition, but the government, as its owner, has not yet assessed the condition of the plane, the scope and amount of investment needed to get it flying again.
The Ministry of Transport previously officially explained that "several options are being considered regarding further treatment of the aircraft in question", but that an assessment of its value needs to be made, which, according to them, is "an administratively and financially demanding process" in which multiple state bodies should cooperate.
Unofficially, the Ministry of Transport referred "Vijesti", which was interested in why nothing has been done with "Charlie" for years, but rather it is being allowed to deteriorate, to the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, which includes the State Property Administration, which is officially supposed to take care of this state aircraft.
The Administration did not respond to any of the specific questions from "Vijesti" regarding this, only emphasizing that the State Property Administration did not participate in the purchase of the aircraft. The Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro is not interested in the aircraft either.
"Considering that the Protector, pursuant to Article 53 of the Law on State Bodies, represents state bodies, without the status of a legal entity, in proceedings of any kind, we are not competent to manage state property. The State Property Administration takes care of the items (movable and immovable) in state property pursuant to the Law on State Property and the Regulation on the Organization and Mode of Operation of State Administration, so the specific question you raised concerns the State Property Administration, because the Protector has no insight into the situation related to the plane," the Protector of State Property Interests told us. Bojana Cirovic.
While state authorities are shifting responsibility among themselves, the State Prosecutor's Office is also uninterested in this case of destruction and neglect of state property, which should, ex officio, sanction such behavior of those responsible. The Supreme State Prosecutor's Office told "Vijesti" that with questions regarding "Charlie" and the (in)action of the competent authorities regarding this state property, "we are instead directly contacting the competent prosecutor's offices."
We asked the Basic and Higher State Prosecutor's Offices in Podgorica identical questions: whether these prosecutors' offices have taken any measures and actions related to the (non)actions of the competent state authorities, which may have characteristics of the criminal offenses of "unconscionable work in service" and "abuse of official position", which, from the end of April 2024, when the aircraft officially became the property of the state of Montenegro, have resulted in significant damage to state property, in the case of the "Embraer E195" aircraft, since the aircraft has been unprotected and improperly stored for a long time, and is deteriorating at Podgorica airport. We also asked if they have taken measures, what measures they are, and if not, why not.
The Podgorica ODT said that “no cases have been opened in this regard.” On the other hand, the Higher Prosecutor's Office was not precise in its answers as to whether the fate of “Čarlije” and the actions of the authorities in this regard interested them even slightly professionally.
"The Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, within its jurisdiction, acts on all reports submitted to this prosecutor's office, and monitors and assesses whether the statements and actions of any person contain essential elements of a criminal offense within the jurisdiction of this prosecutor's office, so that if it assesses that it is necessary to form a case regarding any case, the public will be informed in a timely manner," the Higher State Prosecutor's Office said.
"Vijesti" is awaiting answers from the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) on whether they are dealing with the "Charlie" case, since the SDT is responsible for prosecuting high-ranking public officials in cases of abuse of office.
Its last flight was on December 26, 2020, when it flew from Tivat Airport, where it was based, to Podgorica Airport. It was also the last flight of "Montenegro Airlines" because the company's management announced that day that it was suspending flights because it could no longer be financed from state aid.
The plane was completely operational and airworthy at the time, so the question is what has happened to it since then and how it was devastated to the point that millions of dollars now need to be invested in it to return it to operational use.
In 2021, the MA bankruptcy administration claimed on several occasions that "Charlie" was "approached by unauthorized persons" at the airport stand in Podgorica and allegedly removed various parts from the plane. They accused the new national company AM, which its management denied. According to the photographs from that time, the left engine was removed from "Charli", but it was not explained who did it and where the engine ended up, and it also had blown tires on one side, which is why it was standing crooked, putting more weight on that side.
"Air Montenegro" didn't have the money for "Charlie"
The new state-owned airline "Air Montenegro" had wanted to take over this aircraft before, and in June 2021, the government gave it the green light to use its founding capital to purchase this "Embraer E5,36" from a Brazilian bank for $195 million. However, after "Air Montenegro"'s analysis at the time showed that it would be necessary to invest another eight million euros in the aircraft, they gave up on the idea because they did not have that much money at the time.
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