The only solution that could possibly enable the Meljina Hospital to continue its work in the coming days would be for some state health institution to enter into an agreement with the bankruptcy administration on technical cooperation or lease and thus take over the management, as well as all the costs of this hospital, so that the citizens of Herceg Novi get quality health care, without the bankruptcy estate being damaged at the same time and new expenses for the bankruptcy creditors.
This is the unofficial conclusion from yesterday's session of the Commission for Monitoring and Control of the Privatization Process, because in the end there was no majority to adopt them due to the boycott of MPs from the opposition (DPS). The commission consists of an equal number of members of the government and the opposition. President of the Commission Maksim Vucinic said that the continuation of the session will be scheduled later.
This solution is being considered by the Government commission established for that purpose, and the only possible obstacle would be that there is a temporary measure over the property from three years ago, which was requested by the prosecutor's office due to its investigation.
The remaining proposals for a solution to the situation were rejected, such as direct financial assistance from the Government, as this would violate the Law on Protection of Competition due to the fact that the hospital is officially a private health institution. It is not even possible for the Health Fund to increase payments to this hospital, because the price list of hospital services for insured persons is the same for all hospitals.
Reorganization through bankruptcy is also not possible, because it would mean that the state provides up to 60 percent of the money, and the remaining part would have to be provided by the hospital itself or its owner.
Meljine General Hospital, which is also the city hospital for Herceg Novi, could stop working within seven days if the problem of its financing is not resolved. The bankruptcy administration recently announced that they need 115 euros per month for minimum functioning.
Councilors of Herzegnov Municipality and citizens have announced that they will start blocking border crossings in that municipality if their only hospital is saved.
At the beginning of the session, Vučinić said that he would not only deal with the control of privatization, but that the session was dedicated to finding a temporary solution so that the hospital would survive and citizens would have health care, and that he would subsequently investigate the legality of privatization from 2008 and everything that has happened since then. happened.
He wanted to put to a vote whether the owner of the Atlas Group would be allowed Duško Knežević to participate in the work of the commission via video link.
The Messenger of the Force Genzi Nimanbeg he was against allowing Knežević to do so because he is a person wanted by the prosecution and who is on the run, and because it would ruin the reputation of the parliament.
"If you allow it, I will leave the session," he told Nimanbeg. A representative of the Liberal Party also agreed with him Andrija Popović. Since the two of them were the only representatives of the opposition at the beginning, and with their departure there would not be a quorum for the further work of the Commission, the inclusion of Knežević was abandoned.
Vučinić stated that he was sorry that the DPS MPs were not attending the session because their government was during the prime minister's time. Igor Lukšić allowed the city hospital with valuable land to be privatized to one of her favorites at the time, far below the real price.
Representative of the Hospital Union Slavica Drobnjak she said that she was glad to see representatives of the Atlas Group at the session because they had not been seen at the Hospital since 2016. She said that the violations of the collective agreement by the owners began in 2013, and since then they had to manage the functioning and financing of the hospital, as well as that a large number of colleagues left them.
Drobnjak also stated that the owner had left them in the wind, that the hospital had been collapsing for years, and that the doctors and mid-level medical staff were abandoning them. She stated that already then, but also later, she personally informed Knežević about the problems in the functioning of the hospital, but that there was no reaction.
Representative of the owner of the company "Atlas Cop" Marko Nikolic said that there are six legal proceedings in connection with Meljina, without which there will be no final solution. He also stated that the total liabilities of the "Meljina Complex" and the Hospital when the bankruptcies were introduced, amounted to 12 million euros. He also said that the consortium never stopped taking care of the hospital, to which Drobnjak told him that before the bankruptcy, salaries were four months late.
Director of the Hospital dr Olivera Mihajlović Elez she said that during this period they only helped the owner of the hospital once when the wind destroyed the roof and that with a loan of 15.000 euros. He also stated that Knežević told her that he did not intend to do anything at the hospital.
President of the Municipality Stevan Katic appealed to draw conclusions in order to help the hospital and citizens as soon as possible. He stated that Knežević told him in the cabinet that he was not interested in the hospital or white coats, but in business. Democrat MP from Herceg Novi Tamara Vujović she said that she will not vote for the budget if a solution for the hospital is not found.
Attorney of the Atlas Group Milovan Milošević he stated that there is no permanent solution without the owner, as well as that the workers, besides Knežević, are the biggest victims in this case.
Chronology of the problem
The problems of this once renowned health institution began in 2009, when the then Government sold its complex to companies from the Atlas Group. The new owners had plans to turn the complex into a new tourist and health center and to invest 119 million euros in it, but that did not happen.
Atlas Group bought this land complex of 50 square meters on the very coast with a hospital in 2009 for a formal price of 25 million euros and 119 million investment commitments. However, most of that amount was paid with bonds that the Atlas Group had previously bought from the state for 35 cents, and in this purchase they had a nominal value of one euro each. So the real value of this purchase was 10 to 12 million euros, while the land and buildings alone are estimated at 56 million euros.
After the Atlas Group took over this land complex together with the Hospital, the real estate was registered to the newly founded company "Meljine complex" whose owner is 99 percent "Atlas cap", and the owner of that company is the offshore company from Cyprus "Meljine complex Limited". Another company, "Meljine Hospital", was then created from the hospital complex, and its owner is "Meljine Complex".
The giro account of "Meljine Complex" was blocked from April 2016 until July 2018, when bankruptcy was first introduced. In the last three years, the bankruptcy decision has been revoked and re-issued several times, and the current one has been valid since June of this year.
Meljina Hospital's account has been blocked several times since 2015, and the last time it was blocked was in April 2019, when it amounted to just over a million euros. Bankruptcy was introduced in this company in September of that year.
And the accounts of the central company "Atlas cap" have been permanently blocked since October 2019 due to a debt of 153 thousand euros.
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