Data from the Kolašin Secretariat of Economy and Finance obtained by the MANS Investigative Centre, show that Vesna Medenica, President of the Supreme Court, sold her parcels in the village of Ravni at a price that was ten times higher than the market estimate.
While Medenica in her response claimed that the land had been sold below the price, data from the Municipality of Kolašin show something completely different. The data from the decision by which the Municipality determined the amount of land tax for 2015 show that the market value of the four parcels was as much as ten times lower than that the one for which Medenica sold the land to Bećirović.
Thus, Kolašin Secretariat for Economy and Finance determined that the market value of about 27,000 m2 of land in 2015 was just over €12,000, or about 40 cents per m2 on average. Vesna Medenica, on the other hand, sold the land to Zoran Bećirović for about €5 per m2, i.e. ten times the market price at which the Municipality of Kolasin levied taxes.
The explanation for such decision states that the Kolašin Secretariat, in determining the market value, was also guided by the Decree on criteria and methodology for determining the market value of real estate, which it obtained from the Tax Administration of Montenegro.
In response to an earlier MANS investigation, legal representative of Zoran Bećirović claimed that Bećirović always “plays fair”:
“My authoriser did not buy the land only from the President of the Supreme Court, but also from many of his fellow citizens, acquaintances, friends and schoolmates, always at real market prices, as in this case, because it is one of his core business activities.”
On the other hand, his partner in this business, Vesna Medenica, believes that the land she inherited from her late husband was sold below the price:
“I cannot convince my children why I sold it and why I had to sell it at such a low price, not even five Euros,” Medenica said, responding to the MANS investigation.
It is possible that the estimation of the market value of a real estate by the state, in accordance with the methodology established by law, may deviate by a certain percentage from the real value in the real estate market itself. However, the fact that Medenica sold her parcel for ten times the price at which her family had paid taxes for it by then, opens additional room for doubt and questions whether Bećirović bought something else besides the land for money.
More than a month ago, MANS Investigative Centre pointed to the business relationship between the President of the Supreme Court and businessman Zoran Bećirović, which raises numerous questions about the impartiality of Medenica herself, who was the Supreme State Prosecutor in one term, and is currently serving as President of the Supreme Court for the third time.
Bearing in mind doubts about business operations of Bećirović and his companies, which have been involved in numerous problematic privatizations of Montenegrin companies, what is unacceptable is the silence of Vesna Medenica and the fact that during all her terms of office she has never made a statement on clear conflict of interest that still exists.
Finally, for over a month, we have not received an answer from Medenica why a simple day-to-day business transaction between close friends required loans from Cyprus and the entire network of companies in order to sell the disputed land.
Dejan Milovac
Director of Investigative Centre
MANS
