What is behind the conflict between the minister and the directors of companies in the gas sector? – Economy

He attributed the failure of the Acting Director of Transportgas Serbia, Stevan Dukić, to appear at the meeting in the Serbian Government held yesterday with the directors of public companies in the field of energy, Zorana Mihajlović, Minister of Mines and Energy, to “great effort by individuals to hide businesses”. of that company.

Zorana Mihajlović noted that by refusing to communicate with the Energy Ministry, Dukić “protects the private interests” of the director of Srbijagas, Dušan Bajatović, who, she claims, prohibits her from appearing at government meetings that she schedules.

He added that “Dukić thinks that by not attending the meeting, he can keep his position for a while and avoid answers to questions about the business of this company, but that no director of the company is above the state that founded it, not even the director of Transportgas “.

Minister Mihajlović added that Transportgas rejects any communication with the relevant ministry and accused Dukić of “signing acts of Transportgas even though he was not chosen in accordance with legal procedure, which raises the question of the validity of all acts that signed as director. “

According to her, in addition to the salary he receives as director of Transportgas, which is several times higher than the average salary received by hundreds of thousands of male and female workers employed in Serbia, Dukić also receives another salary of more than 5,000 euros at Gastrans.

It is a company that is an investor for the construction of the section of the “Turkish Stream” gas pipeline through Serbia.

Its founder is the Swiss company South Stream Serbia (South Stream Serbia), in which 51% of the capital is owned by Russian Gazprom and 49% by Srbijagas.

Minister Mihajlović points out that certain works of this project are delayed in relation to the dynamics, and precisely in those works that are the obligation of Srbijagas.

With the public appeal of Stevan Dukić, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Zorana Mihajlović, continues her conflict with the management of Srbijagas and its subsidiary company Transportgas.

As a reminder, Minister Mihajlović previously removed the director of Srbijagas, Dušan Bajatović, from the meeting in the Serbian Government because he did not show up for the meeting with his associates as requested, but came alone.

Dukić did not attend that meeting without justifying her absence, so Zorana Mihajlović stated that she would be called to account for it.

What is interesting is that Zorana Mihajlović, after Dukić’s second failure to respond to her invitation to attend the meeting, at least in public, did not request his removal.

Commenting on the conflict between Zorana Mihajlovic and Dusan Bajatovic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said she hoped the two would “find a way to cooperate.”

Danas’ interlocutor close to the Serbian Government states that the conflict with, first of all, Bajatović, does not represent an independent act of Minister Mihajlović.

– Just as the congratulations on the victory in the presidential elections in the United States of America to Joe Biden were not an independent act of Mihajlović, neither is this conflict with the leaders of the companies in the gas sector. For what Zorana Mihajlović is doing, she has the support of her Serbian Progressive Party, namely Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and of course the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić. Zorana Mihajlović does everything she does on that issue because of self-promotion, and the SNS leadership does not stop her because the largest party in the ruling coalition also benefits from that. Namely, Bajatović has been publicly compromised as a long-time arrogant director who has a huge income. Bajatović remained in the position of Srbijagas’ first man as a socialist, with a coalition agreement between the SNS and the SPS. Zorana Mihajlović’s attack on such a director brings political points to her, but also to the SNS. In this way, Mihajlović is trying to present himself in public as fearless and uncompromising, explains our interlocutor.

Regarding the public speculation that the essence of the conflict is the confrontation between two business lobbies, the American on the one hand, when he represents Zoran Mihajlovic, and the Russian on the other, represented by Dusan Bajatovic, our interlocutor points out that in this case he is in the background.

– The only thing that matters to the Napredniks is that in her campaign against Bajatović, Zorana Mihajlović does not exaggerate and endanger the interests of the party – says our interlocutor.

The Secretary General of the Serbian Gas Association, Vojislav Vuletić, says on behalf of Danas that the way Zorana Mihajlović deals with her associates does not correspond to a minister.

– If there are disagreements with the directors of public companies, she must resolve it with them “inside the house” and not present information about it to the public. That is not very decent behavior when it comes to those in power. Such behavior also hurts the Serbian Government. In essence, Zorana Mihajlović does not know the sector she manages and the act she shows in public, tries to hide it – our interlocutor believes.

Yesterday we contacted the director of Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, who is currently being treated for coronavirus at his isolation home, to comment on Zorana Mihajlovic’s assertions that Dukic “protects his private interests” and that the minister expelled him from the meeting in the Government until the conclusion. We received no response from Bajatović on this issue.

Also yesterday it was not possible to get a comment from Stevan Dukić, as they explained to us that “the director is not working”.

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