The bankruptcy administration of Ulcinj’s Solana salt factory has paid former workers €350 each toward unpaid wages that have been owed for over ten years.
According to the union, around 70 workers received this partial payment, which is the first disbursement by the bankruptcy administration since December 2023. Union representatives said the workers are satisfied, as this will somewhat improve their difficult financial situation.
Approximately 70 workers who remained with Solana until the end received termination notices in 2014, a year after the factory’s last salt harvest. At that time, the bankruptcy administration owed all former employees, including those who had left earlier, around €1.5 million. Currently, the administration still owes nearly €1 million, with those who stayed until the end (about 70 workers) owed on average over €10,000 each, the union claims.
The union recalls that since 2015, the bankruptcy administration has been making periodic payments to workers ranging from €100 to €500. Some workers are now close to receiving the full amounts owed. They remain optimistic that the remaining debts will be settled soon.
Last year, 60 Solana workers received €2,700 each from the Labor Fund, which reduced the overall debt. The remaining ten workers did not receive this payment because they did not meet certain conditions.
In protest over unpaid wages, Solana workers have been blocking the road to Bar at the Ulcinj exit every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. So far, they have blocked the road four times—three times for two hours, and once for one hour.
The decision to block city roads was unanimously made on May 4 during a gathering marking 20 years since the restructured bankruptcy was introduced in the oldest company in Ulcinj. It was agreed that the blockades would initially last one hour.
The bankruptcy administration currently owes the workers about €1 million in unpaid wages and contributions covering around five and a half years of work. Solana was in a programmed bankruptcy from 2005 and in classical bankruptcy from 2011. The last salt harvest was in 2013.
Since 2015, the assets of Solana have been managed by Montenegro’s National Parks, following a government decision.
