The company „Adriatic Shipyard“ in Bijela is a classic example of how an economic giant can be thrown into bankruptcy when run by a political party. Over the years, board members, mainly government and ruling DPS officials have alternated seats and taken detrimental decisions, thus making room for selling valuable assets next to nothing and causing workers to lose their jobs.
This is shown in the analysis of MANS Investigation Centre, including business dealings of the shipyard company since the end of 2008, when it earned profit of around €660,000 and had 660 employees, until 2014, when it lost an unbelievable sum of € 12.5 million and provided employment for 438 workers.
The financial statements of the Adriatic Shipyard say that starting from 2009 the company earned lower annual operating revenues, which should have been a warning sign for reducing overall expenditures. However, the management of the company continued irrational and excessive spending, which incurred heavy losses and raised an issue on liquidity of the company, so it was driven into bankruptcy this June.
The company in Bijela annually spent considerable assets for salaries, whereas substantial amounts were spent for fees, temporary employment contract and part-time or casual jobs. MANS stated that they represented a perfect model of employment to the advantage of the ruling party in pre-election periods. Data show that over € 1.4 million has been spent for this purpose over the course of six years.
Besides, during those six years, the company paid €19.5 million for so called services of the cooperative (assembly, welder and sand-pit operator assistants, etc.). All of these opened up plenty of opportunity for concluding simulated contracts and drawing money out of the company. At the same time, over €900,000 was spent on sponsorships and various kinds of aids, which cannot be regarded as rational and judicious business, having in mind the company’s drop in revenues.
Over the six-year period, while “Adriatic Shipyard“ was facing financial collapse, most of the DPS officials paraded through the board of directors and were paid on the basis of membership fees around €160,000.
Stanko Zloković, a member of the municipal committee of the DPS in Herceg Novi and vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce, was the chairman of the board of directors from 2009 to 2014. In 2014, he was replaced by Savo Parača, who had been one of the members of the board of directors in the company in Bijela during two years before.
Parača is a member of the municipal committee of the DPS in Cetinje and the head of the Transport Directorate. He is remembered for his involvement in the affair of receiving a severance pay of €180,000 after working for six months in the management of the company Željeznica Crne Gore (Montenegrin Railway). He was returned from retirement to assume his current official position.
The company in Bijela was also managed by Aleksandar Tičić as a member of the board of directors in the period between 2011 and 2012. As the Prime Minister’s Adviser he occupied the position of the Secretary for Privatization and Capital Investment Council until recently and is in police custody at the moment on charges of abuse of the official power during the construction of TQ Plaza in Budva, which has inflicted a harm of €10 million to the local budget. Tičić is currently under investigation for selling municipal land in Košljun in Budva.
Radoica Luburić and Asim Telaćević were also members of the board of directors in the Shipyard management. Now they hold important positions in the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG). Luburić is a former Minister of Culture, representative of the DPS and managing director of CBCG, whereas Telaćević as one of the founders of the ruling party, held a number of influential positions over the years, such as the position of the director of the Development Fund.
The current representative of the DPS Veljko Zarubica was also a member of the board of directors back in 2010, whereas Vladimir Vukomirović, former head of the Chamber of Commerce, also earned his keep in the Shipyard. Together they are remembered by the controversial roles in a tender board for selling the company Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica (Aluminum Plant).
Ivana Vojinović was a member of the Board of Directors from the middle of 2013. Today, she is the head of the Climate Change Directorate within the Ministry of Sustainable Development and a member of the Committee for Monitoring the DPS Program. Another woman found her place in the management of the Shipyard – Maja Baćović, a member of the Senate of the University of Montenegro, also an associate professor at the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica, who enjoys reputation of being a cadre of economy doctrine of professor Veselin Vukotić.
Lastly, members of the board of directors were Dragan Mitrović, Mijat Jocović and Vladimir Žmukić while during previous six years the position of the managing director was occupied by Petar Zvicer and Petar Tušup.
The „team“ who paraded through management bodies of the company between 2009 and the end of 2014 has full responsibility for the Adriatic Shipyard bankruptcy. Over the years, the company’s loss grew heavier and not one member of the board of directors, appointed by the government to guard the company’s interest, was held liable, but only moved to another position, leaving behind more problems than there were originally.
Such activities and lack of responsibility for work in management bodies of public companies is the consequence of the DPS efforts to retain absolute control over them, appointing party’s loyal protégés instead of professionals in key positions. Having in mind open pretensions of the government’s old partner Peter Munk towards the Shipyard, there is a suspicion that the management’s goal for the past year is well achieved – bankruptcy, getting rid of the workforce and divestiture of valuable property.
This text is created with the support of the European Union within the project “Zero Tolerance to Corruption”. Network for Affirmation of Non-Governmental Sector – MANS is solely responsible for the contents of this article, and the views taken herein shall not in any case be considered as those of the European Union.
