Since Friday, when the official handover of the Crnogorska plovidba ship to the new owner, the Danish company K/S Navision Group, took place in the British port of Tyne, there has been no longer a ship flying the Montenegrin flag and bearing the name "Kotor" on the world's seas.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", although the "Kotor" already had a sufficient number of crew members at the time it was taken over by the Danes to complete the handover, "Crnogorska plovidba", at the insistence of its legal representatives from a Podgorica law firm, still sent a whole new crew on board. They stayed on board for less than two days and after the new owner's crew arrived on board the "Kotor", they returned to Montenegro. This "trip" cost Crnogorska plovidba an additional few tens of thousands of euros in costs of (un)necessary crew changes on a ship that is leaving the company's fleet.
In the next ten days, the new owners from Denmark should take over the second ship of Crnogorska plovidba, "Dvadesetprvi maj", which will soon sail from the Vietnamese port of Kam Pha to Japan, where its handover will take place.
The management of "Crnogorska plovidba", under the influence and request of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, urgently sold both ships to the Danes for 13,25 million dollars, which is far less than the objective value of these two handysize bulk carriers of 35.000 tons each, built in 2012 in China. "Kotor" was sold for 5,75 million dollars (about 4,92 million euros), which is significantly lower even than the allocations that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs had for the organization of the sailing race Ocean Race Europe 2025 in Montenegro, which cost the state treasury 5,25 million euros. "Dvadesetprvi maj" was sold for 7,5 million dollars, which is also far below its market value, which is around 10 million dollars.
This sale of ships by the Montenegrin state company has attracted the attention of specialized world media outlets covering the maritime industry in recent days, so the reputable portal "Trade Winds" published a story about this trade that stunned experts under the headline "Danish shipowner grabs fleet of European bulk carrier saved from bankruptcy." "Trade Winds" emphasizes in its text that "the ships 'Kotor' and 'Dvadesetprvi maj' (both built in 2012) were sold for a bargain price of a total of 13,25 million dollars, as stated in the government document."
Danish Navision Shipping is a family-owned company founded in 2001 in Copenhagen and specializes in handy and supramax bulk carriers. It has a fleet of around 30 ships that transport a total of over 100 million tons of cargo annually, and their entire management is led by a team of just 15 people.
The sale of the ships "Kotor" and "Dvadestprvi maj" by the Crnogorska plovidba (CP) company is a completely wrong move, said the mayor of that municipality, Vladimir Jokić (Democrats), in a guest appearance on Radio Kotor.
In the show "Ask the Mayor", broadcast before the sale of "Kotor", but even when it was already certain that a change of ownership would occur, Jokić said that there is no logic by which the same ships are acceptable to Denmark, but not to Montenegro.
"It's such a paradox that it's unbelievable. I have said publicly several times that something like this is unacceptable for Kotor and for me as mayor. All in all, a completely wrong and shameful move. However, in addition to the political and functional disagreement with the aforementioned decisions, this is simply not a process that the mayor of Kotor can manage. I think time will show the harmfulness of the process itself," said Jokić.
He recalled that there have already been various criminal proceedings and called on the competent institutions, prosecutors' offices and inspectorates, to give their opinions.
"Some things that happen that contradict elementary logic, then something is not right. If you have two ships, acceptable to a Danish shipping company, but not, for God's sake, to the state of Montenegro, then that is beyond reason. I think it should have been done completely differently, to merge into one company headquartered in Kotor and that it should have been Crnogorska plovidba because it is 100 percent owned by the state of Montenegro. It is completely pointless to give a company that is, like its assets, 100 percent owned by Montenegro, 'under the hood' of Barska plovidba, which is not owned by it to the same extent, but about sixty percent, to be managed by it. For every euro they would earn, the state would earn the entire euro, and in Barska the state would earn 60 cents and private owners 40," said Jokić, characterizing as "unreal" the move by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs to sell two ships of a company 100 percent owned by the state.
"That would be the same as if we, the local government, which is responsible for dealing with communal order in the city, took and sold the Komunalno trucks and shut down this company. I don't understand that. Maybe my intellectual reach can't go that far, but we'll see what time will tell," said Jokić.
The mayor of Kotor also says that it was clear that with two ships "no miracle could be achieved, financially or otherwise."
"However, you have to have something as a seed. This city is built on the tradition of seafaring. It was built by sailors - merchants through the millennia. Maybe we can't be Genoa and host the MSC, but we have to have something, some symbol. Still, someone seems to have been 'smart' to turn that something into nothing, for the sake of some other mathematics. Let's see what that mathematics will be, let's see what the solution to this situation is. I repeat, out of all my intentions and obligations to this city, I vehemently opposed the sale of ships, both officially and unofficially, in various ways. Obviously, I failed, like many others, to stop it," Jokić pointed out, adding that "it may turn out that we were wrong in the end, which I don't believe, but I equally expect responsibility if it turns out that this move, from those who advocated it and who implemented it, was dramatically wrong."
Captains: Radulović attacks critics from the civil sector
The Association of Sea Captains of Montenegro (UPKCG) condemned the statement of the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Filip Radulović (PES), in which he challenged the credibility of that professional association of seafarers "and personally tried to discredit the member of the Board of Directors, Janko Milutin."
The day before, Radulović, commenting on numerous criticisms of the way in which the ships of Crnogorska plovidba were sold, as well as calls from the Captains' Association to organize a control hearing before the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget of the Parliament of Montenegro, launch a parliamentary investigation and involve the Special State Prosecutor's Office and the State Audit Institution in the entire process, stated that the allegations of the UPKCG are "completely incorrect and show a misunderstanding of the regulations and the situation".
"The Government of Montenegro has reached conclusions that are fully based on the applicable regulations. The allegations of the Captains' Association are not unusual, considering that the head of this association is Janko Milutin (URA), who has never been a captain. We are talking about an association that has five members and whose credibility has long been known to the public," said Radulović.
On this occasion, the UPKCG expressed "deep concern about attempts to delegitimize expert opinion and public action of the civil sector."
"UPKCG is the legal and programmatic successor of the Association of Merchant Navy Captains of Montenegro - Kotor, founded in 1993, which, through several decades of active work, promoted the maritime profession, participated in public debates, contributed to legislative initiatives and pointed out systemic shortcomings in sectoral policy. The minister's statement, which allegedly uses the number of members of the association as an argument to challenge its credibility, represents a dangerous precedent in the institution's relationship with civil society. Even if this information is correct, which it is not, the number of members cannot be a measure of expertise, nor should public office be used for personal disqualification and political stigmatization. We remind you that freedom of expression, association and action of the civil sector is guaranteed by the Constitution of Montenegro, as well as by international conventions that Montenegro applies within the framework of the process of accession to the European Union. Attacks on the civil sector, especially when they come from the executive branch, represent a direct threat to democratic principles and freedom of speech," the UPKCG assessed.
They called on the Ministry of Regional Investment Development and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations, as the authority responsible for the NGO sector, to officially state its position on this case and "protect the integrity of civil society"; Prime Minister Milojko Spajić to publicly distance himself from the statement of the Minister of Maritime Affairs and "confirm the Government's commitment to an inclusive dialogue with professional associations, if that is the case"; the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro, "to monitor and evaluate, within its mandate, the attitude of institutions towards the civil sector, in the context of European values and standards", and civil society in Montenegro, "including all other professional associations in the maritime sector as well as all other stakeholders to publicly condemn the statements of Minister Radulović".
"UPKCG will continue to act in accordance with its statute, professional principles and public interest, regardless of attempts to discredit it. We believe that constructive criticism is the foundation of progress, not a reason for institutional attack," the UPKCG Board of Directors announced.
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