Nikolić was dismissed by the HSE supervisory board, which was overhauled soon after the government of Janez Janša took over. Viktor Vračar, previously the director general of the TEŠ coal-fired power station, was appointed the new director general.

Nikolić, who protected himself against an early job loss when he was appointed by inserting a provision in his contract that in case of a no fault dismissal he must be offered a comparable job at HSE for the rest of his four-year term, turned to the Labour Court in early 2021.

In line with the provision from his contract, the supervisors should have offered Nikolić a new job when he was dismissed, which they did not.

According to Dnevnik, they would not have been obligated to do that in case of a fault dismissal. But the supervisors said Nikolić was dismisses "due to inability to set up trust".

The Supreme Court said that Nikolić could have been dismissed before the end of his four-year term after being provided with a job that suits his education and ability. Only after he took this job, HSE could have dismissed him, provided there were reasons for this.

But since he was not even offered another job, formally his employment lasted until the end of last year, when he got a job at the company Rune, which he heads today. This means he is entitled to ten monthly wages in the amount of EUR 10,830 gross at HSE (minus the unemployment compensation he received during that time) plus compensation, contributions, bonuses and insurance.