Branimir Gvozdenović spent at least €370,000 for education of his two children

Longtime government official and current vice president of the Parliament of Montenegro, Branimir Gvozdenović, spent at least €370,000 for education of his two children in Milan and London. That amount Gvozdenović could not have saved up from official revenues, and he told “Vijesti” that he had received “help by the wider family” without further explanation.

This help, assuming that Gvozdenović led a very modest life, would have to be in the amount of at least €100,000. Longtime state official was obliged to state such amount of help or gift in his report on income and property.

Data obtained by the MANS Investigative Centre show that Gvozdenović spent at least €370,000 for education of his children at the prestigious European faculties in the period from 2007 to 2016. At the same time, according to Gvozdenović’s property and income reports, his entire family earned a total of €330,000 in those nine years.

This means that even if Gvozdenović did not spend a dime for food, bills and other costs of living for him and his wife, he would still miss €40 thousand for education of his children abroad.

When we include even very modest costs of living of Gvozdenović couple for a period of nine years, it is obvious that for the education of their two children in the European metropolises there was a shortage of at least €100 thousand.

If children’s education was financed from legal income, the question arises in which way family Gvozdenović managed to make ends meet for nine years, which is how long their children stayed in London and Milan.

Education of Marko Gvozdenović in Milan and London cost his family at least €147,000.

Marko started his studies at Bocconi University in Milan in 2007. The data of this university show that his three-year education cost family Gvozdenović at least €36 thousand.

If Gvozdenović Jr. did not rent an apartment but lived in a dormitory, his father would have to spend at least €20,000 for the entire period of study, data on the cost of student accommodation within the Milan University show. If Marko Gvozdenović, however, rented an apartment, it would cost the family more, because the minimum monthly rent of an apartment near that university is €800.

When the minimum living expenses in Milan for a period of three years, in the amount of around €30 thousand, are added to these costs, the total education of Gvozdenović Jr. could not cost less than €86,000.

After graduating at the University of Bocconi in 2010, Gvozdenović Jr. enrolled postgraduate studies of international business at the UK Hult University. According to data from that university in London, the total cost of master studies attended by Gvozdenović’s son amounted to around €36 thousand.

On the website of this university, besides data on tuition fees, there are also estimates of the costs of living in London which include accommodation and basic living needs, and for one year they amount to around €25 thousand, which means that Branimir Gvozdenović paid for his son’s education in London at least €61 thousand.

Marija Gvozdenović’s five-year education in London and Oxford cost around €225,000

Marija Gvozdenović partly obtained secondary school education at the St Claire School in Oxford from 2011 to 2013. The tuition fee, according to the official data of that institution, was not less than €90 thousand in two years. Other costs of living in Oxford, provided life was modest, had to cost €20,000 in two years, so the total education in this high school cost around €110,000.

Marija Gvozdenović continued education in 2013 at “City of London University CASS”, where the annual tuition fee is €11,000, i.e. €33,000 for three years. Gvozdenović, according to the available accommodation price data for three years in London, had to spend at least €52,000. When other annual costs of living in London in the amount of around €30,000 are added to this, Marija’s education at the City University cost family Gvozdenović at least €115,000.

Gvozdenović says he was “helped by the family”, but does not state why this gift was not reported

In a short statement given to Vijesti, he said that for the education of children abroad he had “the help of a wider family”. He refused to answer why that help was not reported to the then Commission for Prevention of Conflict of Interest, because he was obliged to submit a special report for all changes in the assets in the amount larger than five thousand Euros.

He did not respond to later calls from the editorial staff.

There is no information in the reports on property and income of Gvozdenović that he received gift of at least €100,000. According to Gvozdenović’s property records, his children did not own real estate or other income from which they could finance education, nor were they reported to have received any scholarship.

Gvozdenović did not answer to questions by “Vijesti” what exactly was the cost of his children’s education abroad, as well as whether Marko and Marija were employed during education, in order to provide for their existence.

Authors: Lazar Grdinić and Tina Popović

Overview of the income and expenses of Branimir Gvozdenović’s family during education of their children abroad

328.000 €
Total officially reported family income in nine years (2007-2016)
-147.000 €
Costs of Marko Gvozdenović’s education in Milan and London
– 225.000 €
Costs of Marija Gvozdenović’s education in London
– 44.000 €
Amount missing for funding of studies (provided that Gvozdenović and his wife did not have living expenses in Montenegro)
– 54.000 €
Minimum living costs of Gvozdenović and wife for nine years (with a total monthly income for both spouses of 500 €)
-98.000 €
Minimum amount of income that Gvozdenović did not state in his reports