(Podgorica, September 30. 2013.) – Most of the registers in the European Union allow the public to directly, using the Internet, obtain information on individuals and companies, or at least the quantity of data to ensure their unambiguous identification, so the way how the data is hidden in the Tax and Real Estate Administration is not an European standard, but only an attempt to cover up the connection and deals between criminals and public officials.
So, the Italian register of companies allows interest parties to access to complete information about the owners of the companies, including addresses, dates of registration, tax identification number (TIN), dates of birth of company’s representatives and owners, and their personal identification number.
The French and the Great Britain registers of companies allow access to information on the date of the company’s registration, initial funding, address, and date of birth and address of residence and nationality of the agents and founders of the company. Register of companies in Finland allows citizens access about the status of the company, changes, date of registration, and for the representatives and founders, it is mandatory to provide as a public information their date of birth, address, and nationality.
German and Belgian registers allow access though the Internet about the address, initial funding of the company, status of changes, while for the people in the company it is possible to see their address, date of birth and position, basset on what their identification can be done. All these registers provide and additional documentation on companies and individuals, simply by easy ordering via the Internet, without complicated steps that the Tax Administration exposes the citizens of Montenegro.
Even tax heavens such a Jersey, the British Virgin Islands, and cyprus provide more information about companies and people who are forming them than it is currently done by the Tax Administration in Montenegro. So, in these registers it is easy to access information about employees, shareholders, financial statements, and other data on which clear identification can be done.
An example of how the state allowed access to all data of the companies in an easy and efficient way, is a new member of the EU, Croatia. So Croatian court register of companies allows interested citizens to see not only basic information about the company that includes the owners and representatives, their identification numbers and the addresses of residence, but many other data which can provide more precise picture of the company.
Thus, in the court registry that is available to everyone in the Internet it is possible to find the decisions on original funds of the company, the decisions on status of changes with the supporting documents and financial statements, and all advertisements and public notices regarding any changes in the company.
All these data can be easily obtained, without any compensation or any kind of limitations, which is not the case with our register of the companies. After deletion of the identification numbers, register of the Tax Administration is providing only the name of the company and the names of the founders and directors, which is not enough for any precise identification. For all other information that Croatian register offers on the Internet, in Montenegro you have to go through a months-long procedure to access this information.
All mentioned one more time confirms how pointless is to refer on the alleged EU practice in flagrant cover up of data contained in public registers. MANS urges the authorities to stop to manipulate and deceive the citizens in order to justify the fact that we are one of the least transparent countries in Europe without a clear and tangible results in the fight against corruption. Once again, from the Tax and Real Estate Administration we request to return, without delay, the identification numbers of individuals and companies in publicly available online registers.
MANS
