A part of the shares of the Port of Bar and the Montecargo company will not be sold to the Polish company OT Logistics, the Privatisation Council unanimously decided.
The Polish company was the only bidder at the tender call and they offered about €8.5m for a 30% stake. During the negotiations, the purchase price was increased from €0.4169 to €0.50 cents per share, but OTL reduced its three year investments from the initial €17m to €14m. It was announced earlier that the company might purchase additional shares and become majority owner.
“After the complete overview of the situation, the importance and prospects of this entity, we decided not to sell 30% shares, ie that the Port of Bar would not be privatised. Therefore, Montecargo shares would not be sold either, because that purchase is conditioned by purchasing the Port of Bar shares. The proposed model of privatisation is not in the interest of Montenegro,” the minister of transport and maritime affairs Osman Nurkovic said after the meeting.
As deputy prime minister and minister of agriculture, Milutin Simovic, added, it does not mean that “favourite opposition’s discipline of chasing investors and hampering development” will continue.
“This decision does not mean that the Port of Bar will be ‘conserved’. It doesn’t mean we’re satisfied with the quality of work and the competitiveness of the Port of Bar. This decision means that the Port of Bar has to become important for the Balkan region and beyond. This decision does not mean that we want to preserve existing jobs, but also to open up prospects for new ones,” said Simovic.
He said that this decision had to be beyond political disputes and politicking, adding that.
“This is a needed time out, which all of us can learn from,” Simovic said adding that there should be an agreement about the tasks and who is in charge of them.
Commenting on possible opposition’s interpretation of the decision, Simovic said the government was not interested in it.
“They are unlikely to say anything good about any government’s move… we are not interested in what they will say,” Simovic made it clear.
Bar Municipal Assembly earlier unanimously opposed selling the shares.
The Port of bar is majority state-owned (54.05%). The HLT and Trend investment funds own 2.51% and about 2% of the shares respectively. The MIG association for management services and property management has 1.18% of shares, whereas the Atlas Mont has a 1.06% stake.
