Gigović: We are waiting for SDT, we support striking workers, but they should not be tools of professional criminals

The Acting Director of the Budva Municipal Enterprise, Ilija Gigović, and the Board of Directors announced that they support the employees in everything they do, and that they are a priority in further action.

They said they were waiting for the Special State Prosecutor's Office and the police to arrive, and that without them they did not want to take over the company that had been "ripped apart by Predrag Drago Ivanović's organized crime group."

"All their demands are justified and represent the minimum of what every person deserves - to be paid for their work. Unfortunately, they were joined by those who stripped our company bare and thus cast a shadow over the strike itself. We are telling the employees that they have the full support of the management of the Utility Company, but that they should not be tools in the hands of professional criminals, nor should they allow themselves to be led by those who have brought the company into trouble," the statement said.

The public knows, as it is added, that "an organized group led by director Predrag Drago Ivanović, who suddenly disappeared from the company, forcibly took over our company more than three months ago and used that period to commit a series of criminal acts and, we suspect, a serious robbery of the resources of the company that performs the most important public works in our city."

"We want to reiterate to the public that we are waiting for the arrival of the special prosecutor's office and the police because without their detailed control of illegal activities, it is not possible to legally take over the management of the utility company. No one must and cannot accept responsibility for lawlessness without a proper handover and assessment of the situation because it is catastrophic and all citizens of Budva know that. The conditions for taking over the function and managing this company have been known for a long time - those who have brought the collective to an unsustainable state and are in their positions illegally must leave Komunalno doo. Also, the debt, which exceeds four million euros, must be presented to the public right from the start," the new management points out.

They emphasize that the debt for salaries is enormous because it also includes 650.000 euros for contributions that have not been paid, and thus the employees have been robbed.

"The incoming and urgent debt to suppliers amounts to over a million euros. New debts and liabilities are certainly over two million euros. We promised that we would put an end to other people's vandalism, illegal behavior, insults and threats towards the Acting Director and members of the Board of Directors, and this also means removing all those who brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy," the statement said.

They say that "Drago Ivanović, Milan Perović as the "fake assistant director" deserve to be fired and criminally liable, and "all heads of departments who carried out illegal orders from the dismissed management, etc., must also bear responsibility."

"We are aware that the picture is very ugly and the situation is catastrophic, and the company is on the verge of bankruptcy, but we are obliged to inform the citizens of Budva and the competent authorities about all this. Finally, we once again call on all those responsible, led by Predrag Drago Ivanović and Milan Perović, not to create tensions and to immediately remove themselves from the collective and allow those who want to try to remedy the situation, which will not be easy, to do so because we do not want insults, fights, provocations, which would certainly happen if they do not act in accordance with our order as the management of this most important Budva company," the statement concludes.