MANS Investigation Center reveals how “Bemax” construction company from Podgorica „donated“ construction of local roads and other facilities in a number of Montenegrin municipalities just before the elections in 2012, after being granted around one million euro by the Ministry of Sustainable Development for the development of local infrastructure, in only few prior to the elections.
The pre-election campaign for the early parliamentary elections in 2012 lasted from 31 July, when the elections were called, to 14 October, when they were held. In August and September 2012, “Bemax” “donated” construction of several local roads and other facilities in Bijelo Polje, Kolašin and Podgorica, with a wholehearted approval from the local authorities, despite the fact that the act was in violation of the Public Procurement Law. Actually, local governments are obliged to implement Public Procurement Law, which means that no infrastructure facility can be constructed without an open call for tender.
Yet, “Bemax” constructed a crossing under the railway and two sidewalks through two suburban settlements, which was a total investment of around €200,000, as they stated. Five days before the elections, there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the end of the works, attended by Slavoljub Stijepović, then the Minister of Education, as well as Aleksandar Žurić, the mayor of Bijelo Polje and Veselin Grbović, Director of the Transport Directorate. They are all DPS officials.
In August 2012, the company also “donated” the reconstruction of a local road in Kolašin. It is remembered that the mayor Darko Brajušković (also a DPS member) declared that he was hoping that “Bemax” machines would “never leave” Kolašin. “Bemax” has also reconstructed a local road in Podgorica, in Farmaci. The reconstruction of that road was being announced several years in a row.
Having analyzed the financial statement of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, as well as of Public Works Directorate, the MANS Investigation Center obtained the information that “Bemax” had been granted 14 payments for construction works during the pre-election campaign, 12 of which in August and one in September and October respectively. On the same basis, during the rest of the months of the election year 2012, “Bemax” was paid only €48,000, which has made way for suspicion that money had been pumped into “Bemax” in order to promote the ruling party and help it gain political advantage through creating infrastructure.
The money was granted from two loans taken out by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, chaired at the time by Predrag Sekulić and currently by Branimir Gvozdenović, both being eminent figures of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS). MANS Investigation Center data reveal that those loans, concluded with international lenders, were intended for local construction works as well as for emergency aid and flood prevention.
On the basis of the loans for local infrastructure construction works, “Bemax” was granted around €333,000 for modernization of local roads in Mojkovac, Pljevlja and Bukovica. At the same time, the company was granted €760,000 for bridge construction in Plav, Andrijevica and Berane from the loan intended for emergency aid and flood prevention.
What is particularly interesting is that the Public Works Directorate arranged some of these affairs with “Bemax” at the end of 2011 and they were completed at the beginning of 2012. It is evident, however, that the money was granted in the pre-election period, or immediately before holding the early parliamentary elections in October.
This text is created with the support of the European Union within the project “Zero Tolerance to Corruption”. Network for Affirmation of Non-Governmental Sector – MANS is solely responsible for the contents of this article, and the views taken herein shall not in any case be considered as those of the European Union.
Through BEMAX to the votes
MANS Investigation Center has already published that the Government has provided in the 2016 Budget a substantial sum of €13 million for local infrastructure projects, while millions of euros are at disposal of municipalities, in their treasuries. The parliamentary elections will be held in 2016.
The aforementioned investments mostly concern earthmoving, reconstruction or construction of roads in urban and suburban areas, as well as construction of local bridges and water supply systems.
Investments in local infrastructure present a significant mechanism for election briberies, as voters are offered infrastructure to improve the quality of living in exchange for their votes.
The ruling DPS intensely used this mechanism for political promotion all the previous years, while the authorities completely failed to react to the evident misuse of state resources for election purposes.
