The Independent Trade Union of Airports of Montenegro announced today that, in accordance with its legal powers and in the interest of protecting air traffic safety, it is addressing the Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) with a request to urgently undertake all activities within its jurisdiction, and in accordance with the Law on Air Traffic of Montenegro ('Official Gazette of Montenegro', No. 30/12, 61/13, 1/15, 66/19 and 146/21), in order to ensure consistent compliance with regulations and preserve the safety of aircraft, crews and passengers.
"Article 5 of the Law on Air Transport stipulates that air transport must be carried out in a manner that fully ensures the safety of passengers, crew, aircraft and third parties, with mandatory compliance with international standards (ICAO and EASA). According to Article 9 of the Law, the Agency is obliged to supervise the implementation of regulations and standards, as well as to take all necessary measures in the event of irregularities that may endanger safety. Article 133 of the Law stipulates that the airport operator must ensure that all employees in airport operations have appropriate licenses, authorizations and training, while Article 136 clearly states that no work that involves access to security-controlled areas and making operational decisions can be performed without a license," the Independent Trade Union of Airports of Montenegro, signed by President Biljana Knežević, states in a statement.
The statement added that the Management of the Airport of Montenegro, in the middle of the summer season, assigned an employee to the position of shift manager in the Reception and Dispatch Service, even though he had no training or a legally required license.
"This violated the Air Traffic Act and created a serious threat to air traffic safety. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. Management's claim that the shift manager 'does not need a license' represents a flagrant violation of the law and misleading the public, contrary to the above provisions," said the Independent Trade Union of Airports of Montenegro.
They call on the CAA to:
1. Urgently conduct an extraordinary inspection and control of the actions of the management of the Airport of Montenegro,
2. Establish responsibility for the deployment of unlicensed personnel,
3. Order the Airports of Montenegro to immediately cease the practice of illegally employing unskilled and unlicensed personnel in positions that directly affect air traffic safety,
4. In accordance with Article 11 of the Law on Air Transport, inform the public and the applicant of this request about the measures taken, within the deadline prescribed by law.
"We are confident that the Agency will act in accordance with its legal obligations and mandates, in order to preserve the safety and reputation of Montenegro in international aviation," the Independent Union of Airports of Montenegro said in a statement.
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Criminal charges
The Independent Trade Union of Airports of Montenegro also announced that they have submitted a criminal report to the Special State Prosecutor's Office, with all the evidence, due to negligent work and serious endangerment of the safe operation of air traffic.
We are reprinting the text of the application in full:
To the Special State Prosecutor's Office:
Subject: Criminal charges against Roko Tolić, Executive Director of the Airport of Montenegro and Ivan Rakočević, Director of Tivat Airport
Dear customer,
Due to abuse of official position, endangering the safe and secure operation of air traffic, negligent work in service and other related criminal offenses within the jurisdiction of the Special State Prosecutor's Office, we are filing a criminal complaint against the Executive Director of Aerodrom Crne Gore ad Tolić Roko and the Director of Tivat Airport Ivan Rakočević.
Tolić Roko and Rakočević Ivan continuously abused their official position and made decisions contrary to the Air Traffic Act, internal regulations of the company Aerodromi Crne Gore and international aviation safety standards. This created a direct and real danger to the safety of aircraft, passengers, crews, flight and airport personnel, airport infrastructure, and thus to the entire air traffic of Montenegro.
The reported persons, through the described actions or inactions, fulfilled the elements of several criminal offenses from the Criminal Code of Montenegro:
1. Article 416 – Abuse of official position 2. Article 416a – Serious abuse of official position 3. Article 337 – Endangering public traffic in air traffic 4. Article 417 – Negligent work in service 5. Article 422 – Violation of official duty in business operations 6. Article 423 – Causing danger to public goods of special importance
The actions of the reported persons constitute a serious abuse of official position in an entity of special national importance, which has brought into question not only the safety and security of air traffic, but also the international reputation and obligations of Montenegro in the field of civil aviation, as a full member of international civil aviation organizations.
The immediate cause for this criminal complaint is the assignment of our colleague Jovanović Ljubomir to the position of shift manager in the reception and dispatch service, without any preparation, training and licensing, contrary to international aviation safety standards. With the fact that this act directly jeopardized the safety of aircraft, crew, passengers, airport staff, airport infrastructure and consequently the entire air traffic of Montenegro, Jovanović informed the Executive Director Tolić and the Director of Tivat Airport Rakočević, as well as the Civil Aviation Agency of Montenegro, without any legal reaction to date.
The Independent Trade Union of the Airports of Montenegro joins the criminal prosecution of the reported persons in the criminal report filed with the SDT by our colleague Ljubomir Jovanović on August 15, 2025. There is a reasonable suspicion of a corrupt motive in making the decision to assign an incompetent person as well as retaliation for the previous political activities of the reporting person. Also, the reporting person is a high-ranking member of the Independent Trade Union of the Airports of Montenegro, who, with his dedicated and professional activities, exposes and prosecutes long-standing illegal activities in all segments of the Airports of Montenegro.
The illegal decisions of the ACG management are an expression of direct revenge and retaliation, which the Independent Trade Union of Airports of Montenegro once again condemns in the strongest terms.
Also, the Independent Trade Union of Montenegro is directly aware that the case of colleague Jovanović is not an exception, and that other persons, without appropriate MANDATORY training REQUIRED BY THE AIR TRANSPORT LAW and internal airport acts, and without licenses, even for staying and moving in the sterile zone of the airport, perform specific, complex and very responsible tasks, of crucial importance for the safe conduct of operations at Tivat airport, both managerial tasks and other tasks in the processes of serving passengers and aircraft.
We insist that the SDT act on this report as soon as possible and prevent further endangerment of passengers, crew, as well as aircraft servicing processes, airport infrastructure as a strategic segment of Montenegrin air traffic.
In addition to two shift managers in the reception and departure service, without licenses and appropriate prescribed training, a newly hired professional associate in the aircraft reception and departure service, as well as two colleagues working at check-in and prior control of passengers before boarding the plane, are also working at Tivat Airport.
A colleague who refused to drive a fire and rescue vehicle in a strictly controlled area of the airport, because he did not have a license to drive a specialized vehicle in a special airport area, was PUNISHED ON THE GROUND THAT HE REFUSED THE WORK TASK, DE FACTO BECAUSE OF HIS RESPONSIBLE APPROACH AND REFUSAL TO ENEMIES THE LIVES OF PASSENGERS, CREW, AIRPORT STAFF, PARKED AIRCRAFT AND AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE.
Irresponsibility, disinterest, and unprofessionalism, as well as ignorance, go to the extent that the use of stairs (aircraft servicing equipment) with faulty brakes is permitted at Tivat Airport!
Employees work longer than legally prescribed working hours during the working day, without consent, due to unprofessional work organization and catastrophically poor preparation for the increased volume of operations in the summer season, without work clothes and equipment, without basic conditions for work and stay at the airport between operations, without drinking water in the area on the platform where temperatures exceed 50 degrees Celsius.
After the meeting of representatives of the Independent Trade Union of Airports of Montenegro with employees at Tivat Airport, on July 4, 2025, we immediately requested an urgent meeting with the Executive Director Roko Tolić, in order to present him with information about numerous irregularities at Tivat Airport, which our colleagues had informed us about, but we did not receive any response. I will forward to you in the next email a letter sent to Tolić in order to resolve the accumulated problems, which are definitely not the subject of interest of either the Executive Director or the Director of Tivat Airport.
We therefore propose that the Special State Prosecutor's Office:
- initiate urgent investigative actions; - obtain complete documentation on the assignment of shift managers and check-in officers and professional associates, without licenses, review personnel files, director's decisions, internal regulations and license reports; - question all responsible persons at Tivat Airport and at the ACG Training Center - determine motives and possible corrupt actions; - after the procedure has been conducted, file an indictment against the reported persons for the aforementioned criminal offenses.
The subject of the complaint relates to the abuse of position in a business entity of particular importance for Montenegro (the airport, as is generally known, represents the strategic infrastructure of the state and a border crossing).
The consequences of the actions of the reported persons may have international repercussions, jeopardize the international obligations and reputation of Montenegro as a member of international aviation organizations, and cause serious economic, safety and security consequences, for which reason we expect prompt and efficient action by the SDT.
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