Ships sold in a hurry and without transparency, as if they were selling a tuber

26.09.2025. 11:31h

The government’s sale of the ships “Kotor” and “Dvadeset prvi maj” was accompanied by speed and extreme non-transparency, and they were sold for a price of 11,5 million euros – which is slightly less than if they had been scrapped. We demand that it be disclosed who was the broker in this deal, who received the commission, and that we see the analysis from Dubai on which the decision was made.

This was stated by the European Union at a thematic conference on the sale of the ships of “Crnogorska plovidba”, which the Government sold ten days ago for a total of 13,2 million dollars or 11,5 million euros.

The President of the Liberal Party and one of the leaders of the European Union, Vatroslav Belan, said that whenever decisions are made about Montenegro within the state, the maritime sector and fleet progress and are upgraded, while they are destroyed when Montenegro bows to the regime in Serbia.

He stated that this happened in the 1990s with the “Jugooceania”, but the fleet was reestablished after the restoration of independence. He claims that a similar thing is happening after 2020, and the merchant fleet was lost.

“The government’s attitude is absolutely amateurish, the sale of ships was made on a WhatsApp group. It’s like they’re selling a potato,” he said.

He asked who was the broker in this deal, who was the subcontractor, who received the commission, and that they wanted to see the analysis from Dubai based on which the decision was made. He emphasized that the Government is essentially run by the Speaker of the Parliament and leader of New Serbian Democracy Andrija Mandić.

Belan also criticized Maritime Minister Filip Radulović, who, he claims, spoke at a press conference about the terrible condition of the ships before the sale.

“Maybe the trade was agreed upon and this price was reached,” said Belan, adding that Radulović has been “struggling” with maritime experts and industry throughout the process, who convince him that the situation is not as he claims and that the origin of the data and insight into the condition of the ships is still unknown.

He also emphasized that he did not know whether it made sense to invite the Special State Prosecutor’s Office to get involved in the case, while Montenegro could have taken $5.000 per day from leasing ships, with a reduction in the number of employees, but the company would have survived.

The President of the Main Board of the Social Democratic Party and representative of the European Union, Mirko Stanić, stated that they heard about Prime Minister Milojko Spajić at the end of 2020, when, as he claims, he secretly took on debt and that the ships were paid for dearly, sold on September 15th and delivered on September 22nd.

“We have speed and extreme non-transparency, we have 4.000 to 5.000 seafarers who know more about this than those in the Ministry. They were ignored, every suggestion, request, idea and they sold it for 11,5 million euros, which is a little less than if they had sold it for scrap metal,” he stressed.

Stanić stated that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs sent a letter to the Government a few months ago stating that the value of the ships is 19 million euros, that no one treats their personal property like that, but they do it with state property. He also stated that the authorities do not launch an investigation if they believe that this case is not worth investigating.

He claims that Montenegro faces additional costs, that the law firm will charge 150.000 euros, that brokers and others will come forward to collect. Stanić added that another ship company allegedly offered 16 million, but that the government was on vacation at the time, so no one registered them.

“The value of the ships in the audit report from the end of last year is 30,4 million euros. They were sold at a price of 37 percent of that value,” he pointed out and asked why the Ministry estimated that the ships cost 19 million, why the proposal of expert associations was rejected and why a million euros was not allocated from the “Ocean Race” to save the company and the ships.

He announced that another company that had a stake in this business would certainly come forward to collect payment for their services.

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