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bne May 2019 Companies & Markets I 25
He also appears to be mounting a lobbying campaign against the Montenegrin authorities from outside the country. On April 8 he wrote on his LinkedIn account about a “[v]ery productive meeting” with British MP Zac Goldsmith, at which he voiced "concerns about the conduct of the Montenegrin government and its abuse of public institutions to the detriment of the people”.
“We discussed the urgent need for a change in leadership of the country, and an end to the domination of President Milo Djukanovic, so that Montenegro may become a true
democracy,” Knezevic wrote after the meeting.
Knezevic’s accusations against Djukanovic have also been a driving force behind a series of anti-government protests in Montenegro. He claims to have been one of the biggest donors to the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) over the last 25 years. The DPS has downplayed Knezevic’s importance as a donor, but protest organisers say he gave €97,500 to the party, a figure that gave rise to the name of the protest movement: “97,500 – resist!”.
All but three Moldova-based airlines banned from operating in the EU
Carmen Simion in Bucharest
The European Commission said on April 16 it has included all the air carriers from Moldova, with the exception of Air Moldova, Fly One and Aerotranscargo, on the list of carriers banned from operating in the EU.
The airlines have been included in the EU Air Safety List, the list of airlines that do not meet international safety standards, due to a lack of safety oversight by the civil aviation authority of Moldova.
“The EU Air Safety List not only helps to maintain high levels of safety in the EU, but it also helps affected airlines and countries to improve their levels of safety, in order for them to eventually be taken off the list. In addition, the EU Air Safety List has
become a major preventive tool, as it motivates countries with safety problems to act upon them before a ban under the EU Air Safety List would become necessary,” the EC said.
In another change in the latest EU Air Safety List, the civil aviation authorities of both Belarus and the Dominican Republic were put under heightened scrutiny because of signs of a decrease in safety oversight, the statement said.
In total, 120 airlines are now banned from EU skies. These comprise 114 airlines certified in 16 states (one of which is Kyrgyzstan), due to a lack of safety oversight by the aviation authorities from these states, plus six individual airlines based on safety concerns with regard to the specific airlines.
Pecotex Air is among the Moldova-based airlines banned from EU airspace.
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