Air Montenegro chief executive Vukadin Stojanović said he receives 5,000 euros a month while also serving as Accountable Manager, carrying out part of the compliance-monitoring work and sitting on the board. At a meeting with journalists, he described the concentration of responsibilities as too much for one person and said the airline was seeking someone to take over the duties.
Pay and responsibilities
Stojanović said his net monthly salary as chief executive is 4,000 euros, with a further 1,000 euros in monthly compensation for the Accountable Manager role. He said he has also performed part of the work monitoring compliance for three years without additional payment, and recently became a member of the Board of Directors.
The Accountable Manager is responsible for the functioning of aviation operations, while compliance monitoring is intended to provide an independent check that regulations are followed. Stojanović said he handles only part of the monitoring work. His monthly compensation for that role is separate from his net salary as chief executive.
“I am the first to believe that this is too much for one person,” Stojanović said. He said Air Montenegro was looking for a person to take over the duties, without specifying when that change would take place.
Questions over independent checks
The combination of running the airline and performing compliance-monitoring work raises questions about the effectiveness and independence of the checks, although the overlap does not by itself mean that a law has been breached. Stojanović’s board membership adds governance and oversight responsibilities to his executive roles.
Air Montenegro has aviation specialists, but no explanation has been given for why a different allocation of duties was not found earlier. The public has also not been told how mechanisms for independent control operate while the chief executive performs part of the compliance-monitoring work.
Stojanović compared his total monthly income with pay in European aviation and said it was low by European standards. Those standards also involve clearly separated responsibilities, independent checks and accountability for decisions. The public has not received a clear answer on who independently monitors the airline’s chief executive.
