The Voli company stated that it is against the working week and announced that it will not work on Sundays until a joint solution is reached.
"The Voli company opposes Sunday being a working day and believes that the issue of working on Sundays must be resolved exclusively through a broad, inclusive and open dialogue between all relevant stakeholders, with full respect for the interests of the economy, employees, consumers and the state. Despite the fact that the decision of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro has opened the possibility for markets to work on Sundays, the Voli company will not work on Sundays until a final social agreement is reached and a clear, precise and constitutionally based legal solution is adopted," the Voli company announced.
They believe that the legal solution must not discriminate against anyone and must ensure an equal position for all market participants, without selective application of regulations.
They also add that, if the Parliament of Montenegro decides to continue to keep Sunday a non-working day, they believe it is necessary for the following rules to apply:
- gas stations are allowed to sell only petroleum products on Sundays and may have catering facilities open, but they are not allowed to sell the expanded range of goods that make up the standard offer of supermarkets;
- the sale of agricultural and dairy products is allowed at markets on Sundays, which applies to all shops and facilities operating within the markets;
- bakeries should not expand their range beyond basic bakery products.
"Leaving the possibility for the aforementioned entities to operate in the same or similar manner as that which existed during the validity of the unconstitutional Article 35a of the Law on Internal Trade would disrupt the market balance and lead to unfair competition. At the same time, we are aware that Sunday is a particularly sensitive issue in Montenegro, given that the country relies heavily on tourism, and that this issue affects both the overall impression of tourists and the state budget revenues."
Voli believes that it is necessary to standardize a solution that is constitutionally acceptable, economically justified, and equally applicable to everyone, with clearly defined rules and without exceptions that lead to unequal treatment and discrimination of market participants.
"We believe that the Government must reach an optimal solution, which will be sustainable and applicable in practice, through discussions with all social partners and representatives of the economy and employers, especially from the trade sector. We particularly emphasize that the social partner, or employer representative who participated in the discussions so far, ignores the proposals of the trade sector and proposes solutions that are not agreed with the economy and employers, and apparently not with the representatives of the workers. The Voli company remains open to dialogue and is ready, together with social partners and state institutions, to contribute to finding solutions that will be in the interest of the entire Montenegrin economy and society," the Voli company statement reads.
Bonus video:
