Due to the work stoppage by train dispatchers at ŽICG, Montecargo has announced it will be forced to seek compensation for what it says will be millions in damages.
The company stated that all freight transport contracts include agreed delivery deadlines, with penalties for delays. However, the suspension of rail traffic is already disrupting schedules. Trains loaded with cars from Kragujevac and copper concentrate from Bor are stuck in Prijepolje and Požega, while bauxite shipments from Nikšić to Bar and cement shipments from Bar to Serbia are also blocked.
According to Montecargo, the inability to dispatch trains will cause vessel delays, leading to significant losses and the risk that clients may reroute their business to other corridors. They noted that a vessel carrying 65,000 tons of coal for Serbia’s EPS—being shipped via Bar and Montecargo for the first time—is en route, while another vessel with 11,000 tons of coal for HBIS in Smederevo has already arrived in Bar but cannot be unloaded due to the stoppage.
Montecargo said the situation is harming not only their operations but also those of Luka Bar, Uniprom, Stellantis, TCL, and HBIS, impacting the wider economy in Montenegro and the region. They intend to claim damages from ŽICG, which they say is legally responsible for losses caused by its employees.
The company warned that the strike threatens the livelihoods of 300 of its own employees, as Montecargo is self-financed and does not receive state funding. They called on the dispatchers to immediately resume operations and work with unions to address wage demands in accordance with the law, stressing that the future of over 2,000 railway and port workers is being jeopardized by the actions of just 85 employees.
