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Nurković: Investment in MA is an investment in Montenegro’s development

Minister of Transport, Mr Osman Nurković, said that Government didn’t want to see Montenegro Airliens shut down or go bankrupt and that’s “why it decided to help it”. In his opinion, Government’s decision to invest €155 million in MA is right.

 

“We carried out serious and detailed analysis on the consequences and benefits of the solution we opt for. Calculations indicate that shutting down MA would have disastrous consequences. It wasn’t easy to decide this, but after the analysis we carried out, I say we made right decision”, claims Mr Nurković.

He says that indirect contribution of MA to tourism and overall economy in Montenegro exceeds €150 million annually.

Minister pointed out that he was satisfied with the fact they had managed to save this company.

“I notice that some incompetent individuals, the alleged experts, give themselves right to comment on Government’s decisions. One terrible example is some expert’s comment that funds for the Airports will go to the future concessionaire. That’s notorious fabrication”, points out Mr Nurković.

And proceeds to explain why.

“Funds for the Airports will be brought back to the budget through allocation of profit. Therefore, there’s no room for fabrications”, said Mr Nurković.

Asked if there were any disturbances with the EC regarding this decision and what would happen if MA continued to operate with negative performance, Mr Nurković said that MA wouldn’t be operating with negative performance.

“We wouldn’t make investment if we knew that MA would make any losses. According to the analysis, interest will increase year-on-year. As long as we need tourism development, we’ll need MA. This isn’t just investment in MA, it is investment in our country”, said Mr Nurković.

The plan will soon be discussed by the MPs.

“If they come up with better solution, they shall take a part of responsibility”, pointed out Mr Nurković.

Asked if somebody should be held responsible in case this plan backfires, Mr Nurković says he firmly believes that the plan will succeed and that the company will stabilize.

CEO of MA, Mr Živko Banjević, stresses that contribution that MA has made in three years was more than half a billion EUR.

“We carried over 626.000 passengers and by the end of year we will have almost 670.000 of transported passengers. That means the company will generate over €70 million of revenue”, says Mr Banjević.

He added that €155 million that Government has earmarked would be invested successively by the end of 2024.

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