One of the key municipal companies, Water Supply and Sewerage, ended last year with a loss of as much as 1,4 million euros, and other companies and institutions founded by the Municipality of Budva, such as the Mediterranean Sports Center, Mediteran Reklama, the Sports and Recreation Center Budva, the Public Institution Grad Teatar, and Radio Television Budva, also had poor performance.
This is evident from the financial statements that these companies and institutions, which receive money from the city treasury, submitted to the Tax Administration of Montenegro.
The only bright spot among municipal companies that can boast excellent business is Parking Servis, which operated with a profit of as much as 482.365 euros, and they also had excellent business the year before that when they ended 2023 with a profit of 390 thousand euros. Once one of the worst municipal companies, which was synonymous with poor management when the city was governed by the Democratic Party of Socialists, and which manages more than 2.000 parking spaces in the Budva municipality, has sorted out its financial situation and manages to do well year after year.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with Vodovod, which also ended last year with a deficit of 1.455 euros, while the year before that it was in the deficit of one million euros. What is obvious is that this municipal company is not managing to collect millions of receivables from citizens and businesses, which exceed eight million euros, 517 million euros from businesses, and 4,5 million euros from citizens. Of the total receivables, those that are up to a year old are slightly more than two million euros. The company, which has 3,7 employees, allocates 242 million euros for salaries alone, while sales revenues are 4,4 million euros.
The Mediterranean Sports Center, which manages a large sports hall, but was also entrusted with the management of the fields in Lugovi and Jaz, is also a loser. According to the financial statement, the company, which is on the municipal payroll because it receives money from the budget, ended the business year with a loss of 68.362 euros, while the loss in 2023 was 74.139 euros.
The municipal company Mediteran Reklama cannot boast of any business either, even though they manage attractive advertising spaces in the city. They ended the business year with a loss of 117.139 euros, and they did poorly in 2023 as well, when their loss amounted to 43.446 euros.
The City Theatre Public Institution, which is fully financed from the city budget, also reported a loss in its financial statement. Namely, as the statement states, last year this cultural institution operated with a deficit of 52.569 euros, while the loss in 2023 was 99 thousand euros.
The public local broadcaster Radio Television Budva, as stated in its financial statement, reported a deficit of 115.237 euros last year, while in 2023 the deficit amounted to 68.923 euros. The local media outlet also receives most of its money from the city treasury.
The Budva Sports and Recreation Center, which manages an indoor swimming pool, ended the year with the smallest loss, at only 5.557 euros, while the year before that it had a positive business result of 147 thousand euros.
The Budva Tourist Organization performed positively and ended last year with a profit of 2.000.
The municipal company Funeral Services, which manages the city cemeteries in Budva and Petrovac, also ended the year on a positive note, with a profit of 4.768 euros.
The local parliament voted by councilors from the ranks of the political group "Budva our city", led by the current mayor Nikola Jovanovic, the European Union and the Civic Movement URA, with the key support of the councilors of the Democratic Party of Socialists, elected new boards of directors and councils in all municipal companies and institutions. Representatives of the four political entities have divided the seats in the management structures, and it is expected that competitions for the election of directors will be announced soon.
During his election campaign, Jovanović promised the depoliticization and professionalization of public administration in his Platform for Overcoming the Political Crisis and Responsible City Governance.
"We will make jobs available to professionals and skilled personnel instead of the previous bad practices of hiring based on party affiliation. Our goal is to have the most capable personnel in the most responsible positions, which is why we will make jobs available to everyone, with full respect for legal criteria. To that end, perhaps for the first time in the field of public affairs, there will be no distribution by "depth and breadth", but rather staff in local government will be selected through a competition, taking into account professional criteria for certain areas, which will neutralize the influence of politics and political interests," Jovanović promised at the time.
Also, the first man of Budva promised to professionalize public companies upon assuming the position of president.
"In the future, local public enterprises will be managed in a strictly professional and responsible manner, because they will be headed by professional staff, and the principle of responsibility will be affirmed by every employee in the enterprises. Those who have abused their employment for years by not coming to work or rarely coming to work will be sanctioned in a legal manner, and there will be a rationalization of jobs and responsibilities with clear procedures. Future managers of public enterprises will have to ensure day and night that our city and our citizens have the quality service they pay for," Jovanović said at the time.
Poor business results are an alibi for new boards of directors to make changes and appoint new management staff.
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