Trade Union: Enable Montenegrin airports to invest at the speed required by air traffic

The Trade Union of Airports of Montenegro believes that the withdrawal of the consortium led by the Incheon International Airport Corporation must represent a moment in which the Government will "finally reconsider" not only the further course of the concession procedure, but also the state's previous attitude towards the development of its own airport company.

The withdrawal of the first-ranked bidder, they note, does not automatically mean that the concession procedure is over.

"According to publicly announced information, the Government can still continue the procedure with the second-ranked bidder or make a decision to cancel it. The union therefore demands that the Government formally and reasonably complete this procedure without delay and that Airports of Montenegro are no longer kept in a state of multi-year uncertainty," said the union's president, Damjan Radulović.

At the same time, the Government should urgently consider the possibility of fully, or at least partially, exempting ACG from obligations arising from the current regime of the Public Procurement Law, he said.

"We are asking that Montenegrin airports be provided with the business and investment flexibility that the national airline Air Montenegro already has — not necessarily through an identical legal mechanism, but through a solution that will have the same goal and effect: that a state-owned enterprise operating in an open, international and highly competitive market can make timely business decisions, conclude contracts and realize investments," the statement reads.

Radulović said that airport operations cannot develop at the pace of traditional state administration. "Procurement of security equipment, passenger and baggage screening systems, fire trucks, airport machinery, information systems, spare parts and specialized services often has to be carried out within short deadlines and in a market where there is a limited number of certified manufacturers and suppliers."

He adds that seasonal deadlines pose an additional problem with capital projects.

"If a construction or operationally suitable period is missed due to lengthy procedures and appeals, the start of work may be postponed for an entire year. The consequences of such delays are not only borne by the airports, but also by passengers, airlines, the tourism industry and the entire economy of Montenegro."

Radulović said that Airports of Montenegro is not a budget consumer that asks the state to finance its losses.

"This is a profitable company that finances its operations with its own revenues, fills the state budget and has the ability to finance the modernization of the airport from its own funds and favorable international credit arrangements. Planned revenues of almost 66 million euros and profits of around 15,7 million euros for 2026 confirm that there is a realistic financial basis for an independent investment cycle."

Therefore, as he said, they call on the Government to immediately form a joint team of the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Finance, ACG, competent regulatory institutions and employee representatives, with the task of preparing a legally sustainable model within a clearly defined deadline for: targeted exclusion of strategic airport procurements from the regular public procurement regime; adoption of a special law or amendment of the existing legal framework, if it is assessed that this is the fastest and legally safest way; examination of the conditions for the application of legal provisions that enable the exclusion of sectoral activities directly exposed to market competition; financing modernization from own revenues and international credit arrangements; urgent launch of terminal expansion projects, infrastructure reconstruction and procurement of modern airport equipment.

Radulović said that such an exemption should not mean the elimination of transparency or the possibility of non-transparent contracting.

"On the contrary, a special procurement system should include mandatory public disclosure of plans and concluded contracts, competitive bidding whenever possible, strict rules on preventing conflicts of interest, independent auditing, and regular reporting to the Government, Parliament, employees, and the public."

The ACG union, he notes, is not asking for privileges for management or space for uncontrolled spending of money. They are asking, he said, for the company to receive instruments that will enable it to develop, but with even stronger public control of responsibility for every decision and every euro spent.

"The state has enabled Air Montenegro to operate in accordance with the rules and speed of a competitive aviation market. There is no justified reason for the Airports of Montenegro, which operate in the same international market and represent the basic infrastructure of Montenegrin tourism and air traffic, to be hampered for years by procedures that prevent timely investments," said the president of the ACG Trade Union.

The time lost in the concession process cannot be regained, but it can be prevented from "losing another year," he adds.

"Montenegrin airports have the income, knowledge, employees and financial capacity to develop under state ownership. Now it is the responsibility of the Government to provide them with the legal and investment framework in which this development will finally begin," the statement reads.