Podgorica, (MINA-BUSINESS) – The representative trade unions of Airports of Montenegro and all employees are firmly and unanimously opposed to the granting of a concession in a procedure which, as they stated, has been burdened from the very beginning by serious controversies, institutional disagreements, and court disputes.

“The tender, which has been ongoing since 2018, has been marked by public disputes among members of the tender commission, discordant tones within the government, and court proceedings initiated by the second-ranked bidder. Such a process cannot have full legitimacy nor guarantee the protection of the state interest,” President of the trade union organization Slobodan Martinovic said in a press release.

He believes that Montenegro deserves a transparent, clear, and legally sound procedure for its most important transport infrastructure.

“It is particularly unacceptable that a monopoly over air transport is practically being handed over to a private corporation under conditions defined back in 2018, in completely changed economic circumstances. After years of inflation and growth in the value of infrastructure and the market, it is clear that this amount no longer has the same real value today,” Martinovic said.

According to him, giving away the country’s greatest economic asset for an amount that the Airports, with a serious investment cycle and state support, could achieve through their own profit in a relatively short period is a strategic and economic failure.