The Montenegrin government has sold the state-owned ships Kotor and 21. maj for a total of 13.2 million dollars to Danish company K/S Navision Group, a price maritime experts claim is roughly half their real market value.
Maritime engineer Goran Sindik told Pobjeda that ships of similar age and capacity are currently valued at 12–13 million dollars each. Even after deducting 1–2 million for necessary repairs, he argued, the government undersold them.
Sindik criticized the sale process, noting that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs had presented the ships as being in poor condition, which discouraged buyers. He also pointed out that international brokers had reported the ships were sold for 21 million dollars weeks earlier, raising questions about the discrepancy.
The government, however, defended the deal, citing poor maintenance, repeated detentions of the Kotor in foreign ports, unpaid crew wages, and threats of asset seizure by creditors. Officials also noted that the ships had lost classification status and that negotiations with a Turkish buyer had collapsed before the Danish offer was accepted.
Opposition parties condemned the sale, accusing the government of selling off national assets at a discount and reducing Montenegro from a maritime nation to a coastal one. They likened the move to the earlier closure of Montenegro Airlines, warning that the country is being left without strategic state-owned companies.
