"Luka Bar" will not sell office space in the center of Belgrade

The state-owned company "Luka Bar" will not sell office space in the center of Belgrade, as it considers it strategically important for the company's presence on the Serbian market.

Although it once had 153 square meters in a prestigious location at 7 Nikola Pašić Square, by a move of the former acting director Slobo Pajović from 2006, it remained on 61 square meters of ownership and joint ownership of an additional 48 square meters, while the rest is used by another state-owned company, “Barska plovidba”.

This is a business space in the building that houses the Newspaper Publishing Company “Borba” and the Newspaper Publishing Company (NID) “Novosti”, which publishes “Večernje novosti”. According to the Serbian portal “Radar”, the sole owner of NID “Novosti” and the majority owner of NIP “Borba” is Boban Rajic who is close to the ruling structures in the neighboring country led by the SNS. Rajić, through his company "M26", as Radar reports, also bought 50 percent of the company "Politika novine i magazini" (PNM), thus acquiring half of the famous "Politika" building in the heart of Belgrade.

Director of the Port of Bar Ilija Pješčić explained to "Vijesti" that his initial intention was to file a criminal complaint against the then acting director Slobo Pajović for abuse of office, because he had caused damage to the company in this way. However, he said, he gave up on that after the company's legal department determined that the statute of limitations had expired due to the significant passage of time, so criminal proceedings were no longer possible.

Pješčić said that the business premises are located in a building on the fourth floor, and that back in 2001, the then general manager Luka Bar, Petrašin Kasalica, gave a loan of 390.440 German marks to "Prekookenaska plovidba", for which a settlement agreement was concluded with the then general director Radovan Orlandić, where he completely renounces the business premises in Belgrade at the specified location so that the company does not have to repay the loan.

“However, in 2006, at that moment, the new acting director of the company 'Luka Bar', Slobo Pajović, made an annex to the settlement agreement, where he consciously renounced part of the business premises that the then general director of 'Prekookeanska plovidba' had undertaken to cede to Luka, and instead of 153 square meters, he agreed to receive 61 square meters (three offices) in his ownership. 'Prekookeanska plovidba' was returned 44 square meters (two offices), which immediately transferred it to 'Barska plovidba' based on their agreement, whereby the right of joint ownership was established on the remaining 48 square meters (hallway, kitchen and toilet). So, of the 153m2 that someone provided to the company and I am sure overpaid at the time, today we only have a safe 61m2 and we share co-ownership of the remaining 48m2. My first intention was to oppose this decision and the person who signed the annex on behalf of 'Luka Bar', Slobo Pajović, who "He was then the acting CEO of the company, and filed a criminal complaint for abuse of office because he caused damage to Luka Bar. However, according to information from a colleague from the company's legal department, the statute of limitations had expired due to a significant lapse of time, so the complaint was dropped," explained Pješčić.

He pointed out that this is one of the proofs of how the property acquired by generations of Bar citizens was treated, and that it was taken away from one of the largest ports on the Adriatic and the former common state for more than three decades.

"Well, this information that was presented is only a small part of the restructuring in 2008 and the privatization in 2013 of the Container Terminal, when piers 1 and 2 with 90% of the closed storage capacity, with roads and an industrial railway track were taken away. Not to mention that something that the Port of Bar was building was taken away, and that by the decision of the Government of Montenegro in 1996, pier 4, which has since been a berth for the navy of the current Army of Montenegro. Also, since 2017, through the new Law on Ports, the income from the use of the coast paid by ships docking at the Port's coast has been taken away, with this income being generated as a result of commercial contracts concluded by the Port for the purposes of transshipment of goods. This income amounts to about one million euros annually and is lost through budget spending, while the port itself is renovating the infrastructure, which is not its property but the property of the state of Montenegro, and is investing significant funds in securing the Free Zone, although these funds should have come from the use of the coast", he emphasized is Pješčić.

According to him, it is important to point out that the state has not invested anything in the infrastructure of the "Port of Bar" itself, or even in helping the company do business in the last 35 years.

"It is important to point out that the legal possibility of paying assistance to the company by the Government of Montenegro has been created, after the great storm and the damage that was caused at that time in July last year. Therefore, now is the time for the state to help its company and provide one-time assistance according to the assessment made by court experts," said Pješčić, who provided "Vijesti" with documentation regarding the contract concluded by his predecessors.

“Barska plovidba” recently told “Vijesti” that their office space in Belgrade has been empty for almost two decades. This office space, together with the old office building in Bar, was supposed to be sold, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, and the money was supposed to be used to save another shipping company, “Crnogorska plovidba”, and to repay the loan that “Barska plovidba” has from the Chinese Exim Bank for the purchase of ships. To date, its sale has not been announced, while the public invitation to purchase the old building in Bar reached the Special State Prosecutor's Office, which formed a case in this case and seized the documentation.

Two employees, no valuation has been done

Pješčić said that the business premises are being used freely for the needs of the Port of Bar's representative office in Belgrade.

"The company has had a representative office in Belgrade since the time of the joint port, which is our first address and support for existing and future clients from the territory of Serbia. The best purpose of this representative office would be in the case of a unified port, when we would have the infrastructure to work with liner shipping companies for container transport, but even so, colleagues participate in the presentation of the company and the search for new business opportunities. The business premises are not for sale. We did not intend to do so, because we also have to be physically present in Serbia, which is our main hinterland. The premises are active, used by two colleagues who work in the representative office, and when management comes to Belgrade, meetings with partners are most often held there," Pješčić pointed out.

According to him, Luka Bar did not assess the market value of this business space.

"We are not interested in any other valuation of the space at this time, so we did not find it appropriate to conduct an assessment beyond the one that was conducted six years ago for the purposes of revaluing the assets of the entire company," said Pješčić.