Ferries to remain in "Morski dobro": Workers and management against takeover by municipalities

The trade union organization of the Maritime and Coastal Transport Sector of the Public Company Morsko dobro (JPMD) from Budva, which operates ferry transport in the Bay of Kotor, announced that the workers do not agree to be taken over by the municipalities of Tivat and Herceg Novi, that is, that they want to remain part of JPMD. The management of this Sector also issued a statement yesterday, emphasizing that the decision to entrust the ferry line to the management of JPMD "was correct" and that municipalities that plead to take it over should first prove that they are ready and able to manage their own resources.

Ferry transport on the only line in the country was entrusted to JPMD in 2023 by a decision of the Government of the then Prime Minister Dritan Abazović (URA), although at that time JPMD was not registered for the economic activity of maritime transport of passengers and goods, nor did it have any experience with it. The right to operate ferry transport on the line between Kamenari in Herceg Novi and Lepetane in Tivat in 2023 was taken away by the state from the previous private operator of the ferry line, the company Pomorski saobraćaj from Herceg Novi, by unilaterally terminating the contract that was in force.

In the meantime, the ferries managed by JPMD have continued to earn millions of euros from this monopoly activity, but from the profits generated on the shores of Tivat and Herceg Novi, JPMD has invested almost nothing in these two cities for years. This is why dissatisfaction is growing among a part of the local political public, and so a few days ago, the Novska Lista, which is a constituent of both local and state authorities, requested that the ferry line be separated from JPMD, formed as an independent public company with headquarters in Herceg Novi, and that Herceg Novi be represented in the majority in its "ownership and management structure".

"The Nova List therefore proposes that the Government of Montenegro, the Municipality of Herceg Novi and the Municipality of Tivat immediately open talks on the formation of a special public company that would manage the Kamenari-Lepetane ferry line. The state should be part of that model. Tivat should be part of that model. But Herceg Novi must be the owner and must have the real right to decide on the resource that historically belonged to this city and whose one coast, port and a large part of the daily traffic load are located precisely on our territory," the political group announced.

They state that "the ownership percentage model is a matter of agreement", but that "Herceg Novi's right to be at that table is not".

"The new company should have its headquarters in Herceg Novi, professional management and a clearly defined obligation to return part of the profit to the areas where the activity is carried out - primarily Herceg Novi, as well as part to Tivat - through traffic and utility infrastructure, the development of Kamenari and Lepetane and projects of direct interest to citizens. We are not asking for a successful state business to be privatized again. Quite the opposite. We are asking for it to remain public, but for public ownership not to mean only central ownership," said the Novska Lista, noting that "decentralization is not about Podgorica managing all revenues instead of private individuals."

"Decentralization means that local communities that create value are given the right to participate in the management of that value," they concluded.

On this occasion, both the management of the Maritime and Coastal Transport Sector of JPMD and the representative "New Union of Employees of JPMD - Ferries of Montenegro" spoke out yesterday. Both said that the ferry line should remain within JPMD and that they do not want to be taken over by municipalities.

The municipalities of Tivat and Herceg Novi, together with other coastal municipalities and the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro, are the authors and initiators of amendments to the Law on Maritime Domain, which would significantly decentralize management in this area and return most of the powers to coastal cities, while the JPMD would be abolished and transformed into a separate state agency for monitoring coastal management.

The ferry line's union said in this regard that employees and the representative union "were not informed in a timely manner or officially about the content and possible consequences of the new law."

"Nor were we included in the consultation process, even though it directly decides on the employment and legal status of employees and the future of JPMD," they state, adding that this trade union organization, which brings together around 120 ferry line workers and makes up the majority of employees, had to be included in all of this.

"We would like to emphasize that the majority of employees are from the municipalities of Herceg Novi, Tivat, Kotor and Budva who have established their employment relationship with JPMD and wish to remain employed there, while preserving all acquired rights and continuity of employment. We believe that there is no justified reason to adopt a solution that would jeopardize the stability of the Public Enterprise and the safety of employees," they emphasized, adding that it is the employees of the ferry line who are most responsible for its good results. They state that JPMD "operates stably and successfully, achieves positive financial results, increases revenues and represents an example of responsible management of public goods" and that therefore "employees deserve respect and protection, and not decisions being made without their participation."

Members of the Executive Board of the ferry line union Blagoje Ilić, Ivan Vučinović, Boban Babović, Milivoje Popović, Branko Kilibarda, Filip Šoć and Zoran Srdanović, who sign this statement, called for the future "representative union to be timely informed and included in all decision-making processes that directly relate to employee rights and work organization."

The head of the ferry line, Captain Aleksandar Crvenko, said yesterday that when the state took over the ferry line from the former private operator, "only JPMD was willing to invest money and take the risk."

"None of the municipal structures that are the most vocal today offered financial resources at the time to restore the ferry line and continue to operate. On the contrary, our work was accompanied by negative, and in some cases malicious, comments from the very beginning," said Crvenko, adding that he "as a person who has been in this story since the first day of taking over the ferry line and a person who participated in the hiring of a large number of workers from Maritime Transport", can say "that with the enormous support and efforts of all employees, as well as the director of JPMD Mladen Mikijelj and his deputies Ivo Franeta and Nikola Rađenović, we brought this line to the level of organization and status that many people today obviously want to appropriate."

He emphasized that at the time and during the case when ferry workers were physically attacked, "none of the municipalities provided the slightest support to these people, even though these workers are also citizens of those municipalities" and that "time has shown that the decision to entrust the ferry line to the management of JPMD was the right one, as best demonstrated by the attitude of the employees themselves."

"All our workers, as well as the union, unanimously declared that they want to remain part of the Maritime Department," said Crvenko, adding that "all of us ferry line workers stand united and resolutely behind this position."

He pointed out that the ferry line is run by "serious, competent and professional people who have concrete results behind them" and denied accusations by some local politicians from Herceg Novi that few people from Novi allegedly work on the ferries.

Crvenko states that currently in the Maritime and Coastal Transport Sector of JPMD there are 82 employees from Herceg Novi, 30 from Tivat, 32 from Kotor and 13 from the municipality of Budva. Out of 19 ferry captains, 10 are from Herceg Novi, seven from Tivat and two from Kotor, while out of 20 engine managers, 13 are from Kotor, five from Herceg Novi and two from Tivat. He pointed out that residents of Tivat and Herceg Novi make up 70 percent of the employees on the ferry line, and that the Sector has already taken a number of steps to modernize the fleet and improve the infrastructure at the ports in Lepetane and Kamenari, which is why, according to him, "there is no need to change the existing structure and management method".

"Any structural change at this stage could unnecessarily slow down or halt processes that have already yielded results and which should be continued in the interest of employees, service users and the entire Boka."

Crvenko emphasizes that "as for the desire to return the ferry line to municipal control, it might be useful for individual local governments to first demonstrate how successful they are in managing the assets they already have or have had the opportunity to control, which are potentially an incomparably greater source of income for municipalities." In this regard, he listed the return to municipal hands of the "Vektra Boka" hotel and facilities in Herceg Novi, or the potential of Plavi horizont and the island of Sveti Marko in Tivat.

"That's why we say to everyone who wants to appropriate the results of JPMD and its ferry line sector today: first show what you have done with the resources you already have. We will continue to prove our results with our work, the daily functioning of the line, and the trust we enjoy among employees and users of our services," concluded Crvenko.