The total value of the assets of nine majority state-owned energy companies at the end of last year amounted to more than EUR 2.2 billion, or about 40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to data from the Ministry of Capital Investments.
The State Secretary in the Ministry of Capital Investments, Admir Šahmanović, presented at the Government session the Analysis of the business operations of majority-owned energy entities in Montenegro for the period from 2019 to last year, based on which financial indicators, as he said, do not show a positive trend.
The success of the sector’s operations is predominantly determined by the results of EPCG as the largest company with assets worth EUR 1.3 billion.
“According to the consolidated financial report of EPCG for the last year, EPCG as a group realized a loss of EUR 9.1 million and after several years entered the zone of negative results”, said Šahmanović.
Among the causes of business deterioration at the sector level are, as he said, weaknesses in corporate management, which influenced the reduction of income and the increase of business costs, especially wage costs due to a significant increase in the average number of employees in the group, by nearly 600 persons or about 15 percent in last year.
“We have to be very careful when it comes to this sector, because a certain amount on the account does not mean that companies are operating successfully, so we should also take care of the investment segment,” said Šahmanović.
Prime Minister Dritan Abazović said that in history, EPCG did not have as much money in the account as it does now, except when it was sold.
He added that it is true that some companies operated with losses.
“But the state of the energy industry is best told by the fact that Montenegro was ranked first in Vienna at the meeting of the European and energy community in relation to the preparation of the law,” said Abazović.
He said that they have many reasons to be satisfied.
“This year, in the same period, we have daily imports and exports. Last year we had two million EUR every day, 30 days there were 60 million EUR of imports to maintain the tourism economy”, said Abazović.
He added that there is certainly room for business improvement, but that in general things are not bad.
