The state is ready to increase its stake in the ownership of Luka Bar and the government is going to buy shares and increase its capital in the company to 66% or more, which would mean that it has more than 2/3 of the controlling shares. This was said by Prime Minister Dritan Abazović during his visit to the Port of Bar yesterday.
As he said, several initiatives and plans related to Luka were discussed at the meeting, and one of them is the one that the Ministry of Finance has already initiated, which is the increase of the state’s share in the company.
– That is the first thing we want to undertake and we are ready to immediately enter into negotiations with the Port of Adria company on the total takeover of their share in the Port of Bar. Therefore, it would have a much greater significance – said Abazović.
The Prime Minister pointed out that the Government is proud of the result that Luka Bar achieved this year.
– The company’s profit amounted to EUR 5.2 million and was 13 times higher than last year. However, we all believe that the Port can do much more in the future and that it should be the main infrastructural facility and, in the economic sense, be the locomotive of the development of Montenegro – he stated.
According to him, they are also familiar with ideas regarding the extension of certain breakwaters where other ships could be anchored and the total assets increased.
– This applies to both cruisers and cargo. We also toured the part where the LNG terminal should be located in the future, the construction of which would make Montenegro even more energy-wise. The terminal would be used to store natural gas in the Port of Bar, from where it would, in the future, be transported to final destinations by pipeline or other means. – said the prime minister.
He added that there are serious ideas for the Port, and that he hopes that, with the construction of the highway and the modernization of the railway, it will become an important international point and address when it comes to shipping and water transport.
The executive director of Luka Bar Ilija Pješčić said that this was a busy year with no end in sight.
– We have a large number of ships in the announcement, we still have 250,000 tons of transshipment waiting for us in December. We only have one coast and we made a really great result. I am glad that the Government paid attention to the Port of Bar because this is a huge potential, not only for Montenegro, which has only 600,000 inhabitants, but for a multimillion-dollar country, and I believe that we can handle this resource much better – he said.
As he stated, at the meeting they also presented several development projects that were also for this logistics direction, which they recognized from the Government.
– We expect their implementation soon, and therefore foreign partners in all of this – he added.
Pješčić said that the Port was designed for 5 – 5.5 million tons of transshipments, Projected for some 5.5 million transshipments, but that they currently have only one quay of 550 meters.
– We cannot access everything else because it is in another concession area – he points out.
As he stated, an excellent deal was concluded when it comes to transshipment of copper, which is due to the previous management.
– Last year, only about 200,000 tons were realized, so that this year we will already do 800,000 tons, while for next year we have a pre-occupation for one million tons. Also, the Uniprom company is an important partner for us, where 650,000 tons were handled, while next year we expect a result of 800,000 to a million tons – said Pješčić.
He also said that the company, due to a misunderstanding with a foreign company that did not ship goods from Luka, had to sell bauxite worth EUR 2.8 million. That sale, as he clarified, participated in this income of 5.2 million.
– I would like to remind you that this is the result achieved at the end of the third quarter, and the fourth is also waiting for us, which is exceptional – he added.
By signing new contracts, the Port of Bar also opened its doors to companies from Serbia.
– We must be aware that Luka Bar cannot exist without Serbia. We can put an end to all this if we don’t have a hinterland, and for us it is Serbia at the moment, and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo need to be valorized. We opened new contracts with the company HBIS, with Eliskira, Agroglob… for the first time in seven years, we filled the silos with grain. The deals with the companies Moravec, Agromarket… We are attacking this market boldly and we can answer all the challenges – he pointed out.
As Serbia imports the majority of grain through the Port of Constanta, the emphasis of the Bar company will not be on investing in the construction of new silos.
– We will focus on increasing the capacity for bulk cargoes, procurement of machinery, we will also open space for investments by companies from Serbia, so that this will be their home port, because even the Port of Bar cannot survive without it – concluded Pješčić.
The Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Goran Đurović, expressed the hope that this will be only the first Koran towards the new development of the Port of Bar.
He praised the results of the Port, stressing that he is convinced that the performance of most companies in Montenegro will be better than in previous years.
– This means that there are no black scenarios, that we have enormous potential and that we should believe in ourselves. An agreement was also reached on the takeover of Željezara, that’s a million square meters in the center of Nikšić, hundreds of thousands of square meters of halls that, with the right management, will be used in the right way and valorized – said Đurović.
The Port of Bar is perhaps the most strategically important company for Montenegro, and with the change in geostrategic circumstances, it is once again in focus, said Finance Minister Aleksandar Damjanović.
– There is interest from foreign investors, but also from the state itself. We are increasing the state’s property and presence in the Port of Bar, we are trying to round up the ownership of the entire territory of the Port, so that it would be interesting for foreign investors as well. The field of energy is mentioned, we are aware that it has military-strategic, political, economic importance… We are aware of the fact that the hinterland of Montenegro is Serbia and Hungary, which also have an interest in being present here and investing. also, we have to invest a lot in the railway, because together with the port, it represents a unique platform, in order to fully utilize all the potentials we have – pointed out Damjanović, local media writes.
