The Ministry of Finance must as soon as possible to ensure that the Tax and Real Estate Administration, as two institutions that are under the direct supervision of this ministry, to fully implement enforcement of laws and regulations of montenegro, and to return the identification numbers in publicly available registers in their websites.
In a few time, MANS reminded and warned the state institutions in which way the availability of the identification numbers of people and companies is important for the fight against corruption and organized crime, and we are so sure that the Minister of Finance, Radoje Zugic, has a clear picture on what is possible to find out by linking individuals and companies, and how important that is for the public interest.
We believe that it is in the interest of this Ministry to find out which companies are associated with criminals, whether they use them for money laundering acquired through criminal offenses, or maybe through a real estate business they are introduced in the legal economy. We also believe that Zugic by himself should be devoted to the public’s right to know which public official is connected to criminal underworld, who abused his position for own benefit and personal gain, and for people and companies connected to him.
Thankfully to the identification number of the Minister Zugic, MANS was able to discover that he is co-owner of valuable land in Krasici where is, in cooperation with the company “Stadium” based in Podgorica, built tourist villa.
The information from the Real Estate Administration showed that Zugic bought the land on the coast as a pasture for about 70,000 Euros, and with the decision of the Minister Milo Djukanovic from 2009, Zugic’s property on the coast was marked as a building land, which raised its value several times.
Information on the identification number of the company “Stadium” from the Central register of companies in the Tax Administration, were definite confirmation that this company that is a shareholder of the First Bank owned by the family of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, and also that this company has a credit debt with that bank.
The fact that the Monister Zugic is interest related to the company which is a stockholder and has a credit in First Bank, threw a whole new light on his previous engagement as a governor of the Central Bank and as a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Economics, Finance and Budget in controlling of the First Bank’s business.
Discovering and proving conflict of interest in decision making and the exercise of public function of control, illegal enrichment by hiding assets and companies, money laundering and criminal association is primarily possible due to the identification numbers that were available to everyone on the sites of the Central register of companies and Land register. We believe that the Minister of Finance should be interested to make possible that citizens, and also police and prosecution, find out about other officials suspected of using own position for personal gain.
We believe that citizens have a right to know about all combinations and questionable deals that public officials use in order to supplement personal budget on the expense of the state budget and public interest. Because of that, MANS urges all relevant parties to return, as soon as possible, the data on the identification numbers in the registers available on the Internet, and to stop hiding criminals and their fishy businesses with Montenegrin public officials, that are allegedly justified as a concern for the security of citizens’ personal data.
