(Podgorica, 29 July 2012) – Even though the Government has once again confirmed that imports into Montenegro are far greater than exports, it hasn’t once attempted to explain to the country’s citizens that pay it why it is that they are no longer able to buy any appliances made locally or laminate flooring and furniture produced in Mojkovac.
They have provided no explanation as to why the country now imports cheese, milk, meat, water, fruits and furniture while our factories take on the appearance of haunted houses that terrify passers-by; while our farmers threaten to blockade roads and dump their fruits and vegetables.
While thousands of workers and the members of their families go hungry, consistently repeating that they were fooled, the Government and the judiciary remain deaf to their appeals.
The largest companies whose former employees have been victimized by bankruptcies – including Cetinje’s “Obod,” Mojkovac’s “Vukoman Krusic,” and Bijelo Polje’s “Mladost,” – are now also left without valuable property they also possessed in other major cities of the former Yugoslavia. It is still unknown who was able to pocket the money from the sale of these valuable properties.
Some of them, prior to privatization, were in a good financial position. These include the lumber processing plant in Mojkovac. However, after entering privatization with the claim that a “strategic partner” was being sought, they became a burden for the Government and a source of problems for workers that were left without wages, severance payments, apartments.
Shouldn’t all this have raised red flags for professional prosecutors (as Vesna Medenica and Ranka Carapic claim to be)?
The reasons for this tepid reaction by the government, as the workers of these enterprises have stated for years, are listed in the criminal suit brought before prosecutors that is linked to the destruction of 29 firms in Montenegro. These include:
+ During bankruptcy proceedings, shareholders suffered since their bosses were initially included in the bankruptcy proceeding, but were alienated following the completion of bankruptcy proceedings and shareholders were deprived of adequate compensation;
+ From the testimonies of former employees it appears that it is still unknown what happened with the money obtained from the sale of properties that were included within the bankruptcy estate. They note that the money from these sales was never deposited in the accounts of the enterprise.
+ The bankruptcy estate is frequently reduced by the fact that machines would be destroyed on purpose, even though they were in good working condition, while in other cases parts of the factory were demolished.
If state institutions are truly claiming that they’re working to suppress corruption and to pursue members of organized crime groups, it is time for them to dismantle the networks of the bankruptcy mafia and review how it is possible that individuals rose from the position of manual workers to tycoons tied to the First Family.
The EC has clearly stated that it expects Montenegro to undertake such an investigation and MANS will inform them about the information it holds concerning the criminal acts that were committed during privatization.
