(Podgorica, 7 December 2012) – The Supreme State Prosecutor is holding in her drawer half of the criminal charges that MANS submitted over the past five years and is refusing to respond to us in any way on the status of these cases. In the meantime numerous senior state functionaries accused of corruption continue to fill important positions with impunity, permitting them to influence potential witnesses, destroy evidence of their misdeeds, and to continue committing criminal acts. The damage caused by these cases is to be measured in the tens of millions of euros, which apparently isn’t sufficient for the State Prosecutor to take note.
Among the 238 cases that the prosecutors have chosen to give “the silent treatment” are cases like that of the First Bank, which was shown to have significantly affected the macroeconomic stability of the country. It also includes other cases that are related to links between Montenegro’s intelligence services and members of organized crime networks.
For instance, in mid-2010, on the basis of statements made by the President of the Central Bank Council, Ljubisa Krgovic, MANS submitted charges relating to the First Bank and the legality of its business dealings. In September of the same year, MANS submitted yet another set of criminal charges relating to an auditing report of the First Bank. Nevertheless, after two years, prosecutors have yet to inform the public what happened as a result of these charges against a bank owned by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic. MANS has several times asked that the Supreme State Prosecutor explain the status of these complaints, but we’ve repeatedly failed to obtain answers. After this, an international team of investigative journalists made public a series of facts concerning the business dealings of the First Bank at the expense of taxpayers that involved heads of organized crime groups. In response, Ranka Carapic (the Supreme State Prosecutor) announced that she would begin investigating the sources of the leaked information (instead of those involved in the corrupt dealings).
Similarly, in March 2011, MANS requested that prosecutors examine evidence that high-ranking employees of the National Security Agency (ANB), Zoran Lazovic and Dusko Golubovic, were in communication with members of organized crime groups and that they possess significant properties worth millions of euros both inside the country and abroad. Nearly a year-and-a-half after submitting these charges, prosecutors have yet to say anything about the two ANB employees, even though the public – including public prosecutors – is familiar with the fact that Zoran Lazovic, in a very friendly atmosphere, attended the wedding of Safet Kalic, alongside Saric and other heads of organized crime groups from the whole region.
When it comes to the area of urban affairs, in the prosecutors drawers one could find numerous complaints against the former and current Minister of Urban Planning, as well as several mayors (most of whom are still serving their term in office, allowing them to violate the law and existing regulations). For instance, in early September of last year, MANS submitted charges against Predrag Sekulic and Branimir Gvozdenovic since they manipulated planning documentation and the oversight of inspectors to allow Brano Micunovic to illegally build a high-rise in Budva. This case has been gathering dust for more than a year in the prosecutors drawers, while the building in question has been ‘legalized,’ and Gvozdenovic was once again appointed Minister of Urbanism (instead of responding for breaches of the law).
In the period of 2010 and 2011, MANS submitted two cases against the current mayor of Bar, Zarko Pavicevic. The last of these involved organized crime and was based on 10 separate cases of violating the law that MANS uncovered and documented in over 100 pages of evidence submitted to prosecutors. In both of these cases, even though they involved senior officials like Gvozdenovic and businesspeople like Aco Djukanovic (the Prime Minister’s brother), as well as the brother of Kardinal, Miodrag Djurovic, have not been processed untill now. Nor is their any available information as to what steps prosecutors have taken on these two cases to date.
Two charges in the Carine case and the sale of municipal land outside of regular tender procedures were submitted to state prosecutors, against Podgorica mayor Miomir Mugosa and the owner of Carine Cedomir Popovic. The first was rejected on the basis of the claim that everything was legal, but after the High Court found the same agreements to have breached the law, prosecutors are not remaining quiet about a new case that we launched. The same fate met the charges we filed against Budva’s mayor Lazar Radjenovic and the leader of the local DPS, Boro Lazovic, that MANS submitted in early 2011 on suspicion that they had falsified the financial statements of the municipal company Budva Holding (which administers municipal lands worth over €100-million).
The Municipality of Budva represents an obvious barrier to state prosecutors, which even after the Zavala fiasco still hasn’t demonstrate the will to address corruption and crime in Montenegro’s leading city of the tourism industry. In November 2010, MANS requested that prosecutors investigate indications that Municipality of Budva had concluded a damaging agreement with the company Trade Unique for the building of a residential and commercial complex that cost the city millions of euros. This case hasn’t been heard for more than two years. The same goes from MANS’ request that the communal debts accumulated during the building of the hotels Splendid and Avala in Budva be investigated. Even though this request was addressed to prosecutors nearly three years ago, we still haven’t heard from them or what has happened to the multimillion euro debts that resulted from these projects.
The Djukanovic family and their close business partners the Becirovic’s, were the subject of several criminal charges brought forward by MANS, though not a single one of these cases has been processed till the end. Thus, for instance, prosecutors have yet to investigate the suspicious sale of land in Kolasin that that municipality sold to Zoran Becirovic (which he then sold only a month later to Aco Djukanovic). It is interesting that prosecutors have sat on this case for nearly a year before informing us that it was forwarded to the Special State Prosecutor for Organized Crime and Corruption, which in turn has failed to inform us for more than a year now whether any action has been taken on that case.
Prosecutors are remaining quiet in many other cases as well that have to do with public procurement deals. We submitted more than a year ago two criminal charges against the director of the Traffic Agency and the Directorate for Public Works, Veselin Grbovic and Zarko Zivkovic based on suspicion that they illegally granted several multi-million euro procurement deals to Bemax.
When it comes to corruption relating to privatization deals, state prosecutors have yet to inform us concerning many cases that involved senior officials. The Supreme State Prosecutor still has not taken a position in our case against Vujica Lazovic concerning the Cubus Lux case and the intention of leasing the valuable Valdanos Bay to a company that failed to meet the tender conditions. Even though MANS succeeded in establishing that the law was violated in this case, prosecutors obviously after two years have decided to ‘archive’ the Lazovic case for another time. The same fate has met the privatization of the Otrant Hotel that MANS submitted in mid-2010. More than two years later, the workers are still protesting due to the shady deal, while prosecutors has yet to show any movement on this case. There were also numerous manipulations tied to the Niksic Steelworks in relation to which MANS submitted several charges, beginning in 2010. Nevertheless, prosecutors have failed to act regardless of the numerous crises and all that occurred with this firm during its privatization.
These and numerous similar examples demonstrate that Montenegrin prosecutors are still actively colluding in suppressing controversial affairs relating to the most senior officials. The consequences of such an attitude towards the fight against corruption can be measured in hundreds of millions of euros in damages to the state budget (and by extension to taxpayers). Because o this the Supreme State Prosecutor must be held accountable, otherwise a clear message will be sent that there does not exist even a basic readiness to implement reforms necessary for Montenegro’s entry into the EU.
