After 38 years of work in Electric Power Industry of Serbia and Kolubara Mining Basin, Vesna Lakićević was fired, due to posts on social networks calling for strike and talks about the situation within the company.
She was handed her resignation on Saturday (March 1), which was her first day of work after vacation.
As stated in the decision, which "Vreme" had access to, "she was dismissed because, in the period from January 20, 2025, she published photos on her Facebook social network profile on several occasions, in which she acted contrary to the Code of Business Conduct, according to which the posting of photos on social networks that use the logo of EPS AD, Belgrade and the posting of negative comments that damage the reputation of EPS are considered inappropriate."
As it is added, "Lakićević did not respect work discipline in that way".
"I shared a part of Miroslav Parović's announcement, where he wrote about the fact that EPS should not stop, that is, that it is already on strike, because the B3 plant in Kostolac is not working, because there is no coal. I wrote in the post: 'Colleagues, are you aware that we live under a canopy'. They accused me of ruining the reputation of EPS", she explains.
In the dismissal decision, it was stated that she made a series of claims on her Facebook profile that were not based on facts, including claims about "the complete disintegration of EPS" and negative comments about its business.
The second publication mentioned in the dismissal concerns the use of the company's logo.
"On January 23, we organized a protest in front of the EPS. The students made a nice EPS logo and put a helmet on it. I saved that post and added 'Either you are Jokin or you are a student' and carried such a banner to the protest. They took advantage of that and blamed me for abusing the EPS logo", explains Lakićević for "Vreme", adding that all the photos published on the internet, which concern the arrested Milorad Grcic, are with the EPS logo.
Đokin, she explains, is Milan Đorđević, "the president of one branch of the EPS union, who a few days before shared an answer on the official website that there would be no strike." To which we, the first, responded that he was not competent and could not speak on our behalf".
Before her dismissal, Lakićević received a warning about him on February 7. On the same day, she claims, the said rulebook entered into force, which, she says, in her case, the management refers to retroactively.
On that occasion, while she was still employed at EPS, she sent director Dušan Živković a warning before suing for the rulebook, which, she says, seriously violates the Constitution of Serbia, the Labor Law and international conventions on human rights and freedoms and introduces a serious dictatorship in the company.
He adds, there are no such regulations even in foreign companies in Serbia.
Lakićević has a deadline of 60 days to initiate a dispute against the dismissal decision, which her lawyer Uroš Tešmanović will do and ask for a temporary measure of return to work, while the court case continues. As he announced for "Vreme", he will begin to publicly disclose all irregularities in the company's work.
As he adds, for example, "currently, with reduced capacity, only one boiler is working in Lazarevac, which is not enough for heating the city, let alone for the dryer in Kolubara, as a result of the appointment of unprofessional SNS personnel, who seriously undermine the reputation of the company by their actions."
He also wonders who in EPS is involved in monitoring social networks, as well as how much he is paid.
Let's remind you that after 35 years of working in the Kolubara mine, Goran Perišić lost his job because of a video published on January 1, 2025, where he wished a happy New Year to the students and employees of EPS.
Before him, Dragoslav Ljubičić also lost his job, after the protest of unions, employees and students in front of the EPS building.
