MANS warns of potential misuse of state money
Over 250 million is the total value of budgets of most of the municipalities in the electoral 2016. Those are sums the spending of which will not be directly overseen, even if the Parliament reached an agreement on mechanisms for monitoring key state institutions the resources of which have been misused for political purposes, shows the analysis of MANS Investigation Center.
According to available official data, the total budgets of most of the local governments in 2016 amount to around €250 million, while several municipalities, such as Cetinje, Kolasin, Andrijevica and Plav rendered decisions on temporary financing for the first three months of the year, so that the overall figure of municipal budgets is actually higher.
Most of the money in local coffers is planned for the payment of wages, but at the same time significant funds have been earmarked for capital investments, transfers to public enterprises and individuals, as well as for social spending and subsidies. In previous election cycles, the most commonly used mechanisms for misuse of resources were investments in local infrastructure, where voters in exchange of their votes were provided with construction of infrastructure facilities that would improve the quality of their life. Such mechanisms were also social security payments and subsidies, as well as illegal employment in local authorities and companies.
While an agreement on the control of state institutions is unlikely to cover municipalities, the figures show that the administration at the local level provides a huge space for possible political influence on voters during the election period, which has been heavily used during previous elections.
Thus, the capital city of has Podgorica projected the 2016 budget at €55 million, of which the capital investments, carried out by the Agency for Construction and Development of Podgorica, will consume €22.6 million. Earlier data of MANS Investigation Center show that on the eve of the local elections in May 2014, the Agency for Construction and Development of Podgorica, which is managed by the ruling party, “timed” the implementation of a series of infrastructure projects for the pre-election period.
Apart from the Capital, there are other municipalities that also have huge budgets: coastal municipalities of Budva, Tivat, Bar and Kotor, as well as Niksic, Bijelo Polje and Pljevlja from the central and northern regions.
In this regard, the local government of Budva planned a budget of €39.9 million, of which €13 million for investments, while the Municipality of Kotor projected revenues of €18.2 million, almost the half of which, or €8.1 million, would be spent for investments. At the same time, the Municipality of Tivat, in which the local elections should be held by May, has projected the budget at €18.2 million, of which over €11 million will be spent on investments, while in Bar the total budget is €14.6 million, and investments planned are €3.5 million.
When it comes to the central and northern region, the local government in Niksic has planned the budget of around €20 million, €4 million for investments. In Bijelo Polje, from the projected €12.7 million, €2.6 million will be spent on investments. Finally, the Municipality of Pljevlja has planned €8.2 million for investments, while the total budget amounts to €19.2 million.
MANS Investigation Center has earlier announced that this year 14 municipalities, which made their data publicly available, projected that one-off benefits, transfers to individuals and on the basis of the current budget reserve at the amount of €4.8 million. All the three budget items have been previously substantially used for electoral bribery and achieving political advantages in the field by the ruling party.
All the data clearly indicate that in addition to abuse of resources at the state level, the local level is also very suitable for bribery during the election period. Therefore, the government and the opposition should agree on the model of control of money in the municipal governments, through setting up the controller in the secretariats of finance, but also with local agencies or authorities that are responsible for the implementation of capital investments.
This text is created with the support of the European Union and the U.S. Embassy Podgorica. 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 donors.
MANS Investigation Center received last week, on the basis of the Law on Free Access to Information, the latest documentation showing that the Government used funds from budget reserves for “pumping” money to local governments ahead of the last early parliamentary elections in October 2012.
Thus, in the middle of the pre-election period, the Government paid the total of €640,000 to 10 municipalities, of which nine payments dated from 10 September 2012 and one payment dated from 8 October, which is only six days before the parliamentary elections, which were held 14 October 2012.
The data show that on 10 September the funds were paid to municipalities Bijelo Polje (€80,000), Berane (80,000), Kolasin (€65,000), Cetinje (€60,000), Plav (€60,000), Andrijevica (€55,000), Mojkovac (€50,000), Rozaje (€25,000) and Zabljak (€15,000). Finally, the Ministry of Finance paid the Municipality of Zabljak €150,000 on 8 October 2012.
MANS Investigation Center has no information on what the deposited funds for local governments were intended for, but it is apparent that the payments were made in the pre-election period, while no payments from the budget reserve were made to municipalities in the remaining months of 2012.
