The government promised meritocracy, but in practice we have unprofessionalism, honor for exceptions. This is how the opposition answers the question of who sits on the boards of directors of state-owned enterprises. They accuse the government of collapsing state-owned enterprises by appointing people without references to the boards of directors. The government responds that the boards of directors are staffed by people who implement the government's policy, and party affiliation does not mean incompetence.
"They need to follow and understand the strategic policy, that is, the government's policy. And in this regard, it is really necessary that, in addition to being independent in decision-making, they are aware of it," emphasizes Slađana Kaluđerović, an SNP MP.
"They were full of their mouths that they would deal with party employment, which was certainly a problem before 2020. However, after 2020, we see that they are collapsing the economic substance of Montenegro on this scale, by increasing salaries on the boards of directors of public companies, and placing people there who have no references. Honor to the exceptions," says Nikola Rakočević, a DPS MP.
"Unfortunately, practice has shown the lack of will of the executive branch to appoint professionals to the boards of directors who can respond to this important task, and therefore it is necessary to move towards adopting certain legal solutions that will clearly define the management of companies in majority state ownership," said Boris Mugoša, a member of parliament from the Social Democratic Party.
Among the latest examples of poor management is the company Solar gradnja, which received a double negative opinion from the State Audit Institution. The board of directors of the subsidiary of EPCG is headed by Marina Jočić, an official of the New Serbian Democracy, who in recent years has managed public companies in a number of different sectors - from environmental protection to the energy sector. Another recent example is the election of the executive director of the Montenegrin Electricity Market Operator (COTTE). ASK called on the board of directors of that state-owned company to review the decision to appoint Mersudin Gredić from the ranks of BS as executive director, as it concluded that this jeopardized the public interest, which points to corruption. Due to the situation in practice, Mugoša will insist that the new act clearly defines the level of education of state representatives on the boards of directors of majority state-owned companies.
"In practice, there have been various situations, I think, because it is a very complex job, it often happens that you manage assets worth tens, even hundreds of millions of euros, that the level of professional qualifications must be defined in the law, that it should primarily be a university degree. Another very important thing is that intention where I will ask that, if possible, all members of the board of directors be elected through a public competition," Mugoša believes. "The law on business companies should create a framework where it will be generally outlined which competencies or what level of education is necessary for certain positions. What I would mention is that since the Boards of Directors and Councils must have an odd number of members, it would be good for at least one of those members to be a lawyer and what we advocate from the perspective of gender equality, for at least one or a certain percentage of representation to be women," says Kaluđerović.
According to data from the Alternative Institute's mojnovac.me website, there are a total of 257 members on the boards of directors of 55 state-owned companies, with 14 employees. In some companies, they receive salaries exceeding 4 euros for this work. Mugoša expects that the new legal solutions will be in the parliamentary procedure by the end of the year.
"I think it is extremely important that we have the clearest criteria possible, that they are criteria that lead to professionalization, that the political bargaining that marks almost every appointment in all business entities is reduced to the minimum possible level," he says.
Last year, 15 state-owned enterprises operated with a total loss of 11 million euros, and 38 achieved a total profit of 92,3 million euros.
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