During August 2016, a branch office of Societe Generale bank (now Podgorička banka) in Moskovska Street in Podgorica, was apparently a gathering place for supporters of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), who helped the party’s election campaign with donations in the eve of the past parliamentary elections.
Data obtained by the MANS Investigative Centre show that, in addition to the employees of Podgorica’s Public Utility Company “Čistoća”, the workers of the city water supply and sewerage company “Vodovod” and the Fire Department financed DPS’ election campaign. Namely, in August and September, 25 of them paid over 21 thousand Euros to DPS’ bank account.
That these are unlikely voluntary donations of citizens who support DPS is confirmed by the fact that 12 employees of the Podgorica Fire Department paid over six thousand Euros on the same day, August 18, 2016, for contributions to this party.
Most of that amount consisted of identical donations of €450 each, all paid in cash at the branch of Societe Generale bank (now Podgorička banka) in Moskovska Street. On that occasion, the largest donation of €1,000 was paid by the then head of the Fire Department, Andrija Čađenović, current director of Podgorica’s “Čistoća” and a member of the Main Board of DPS.
DPS’ account statement
In a similar way, during August and September, DPS campaign for 2016 parliamentary elections was supported by 13 employees of Podgorica’s “Vodovod” with nearly € 15 thousand.
Vladan Vučelić, a long-term official of the Podgorica DPS, was the head of the city’s “Vodovod” while the employees of that company were paying donations, and two current members of the Board of Directors – Olivera Živković and Tahir Drešević – are members of that party.
After Čađenović switched to Čistoća, Goran Janković, also a DPS official, became the head of the Fire Department.
Such personnel policy provides an ideal structure for exerting political influence on employees in public city enterprises, but also for channelling money of unknown origin into official funds of the party, especially in the pre-election period.
On the other hand, despite documented cases of illegal financing of election campaigns, when it comes to prosecuting this type of political corruption, Montenegrin State Prosecutor’s Office has not had tangible results for years.
Lazar Grdinić
MANS Investigative Centre
Evidence is piling up, State Prosecutor’s Office with no results
Montenegro is entering 2020 election year with a burden of numerous unprocessed scandals that concern the illegal financing of political parties’ campaigns. “Envelope”, as one of the key scandals which additionally confirmed the suspicions that the ruling DPS is financed from illegal sources, has not yet received a final epilogue, despite the existence of the famous video showing DPS official Slavoljub Stijepović taking an envelope with almost € 100 thousand from the wanted businessman Duško Knežević during 2016 election campaign.
Milivoje Katnić, Special State Prosecutor
The recognition that DPS finances its campaigns from funds that have not been reported to the competent authorities came from the very head of that party, the current President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović. In that case, too, there was no proper reaction from the State Prosecutor’s Office, which did not further verify the allegations of the first man of DPS.
There is no epilogue in the form of an indictment in the case of donations from Vrela Ribnička either, which also refer to the campaign for 2016 parliamentary elections. MANS previously revealed a scheme according to which DPS collected as much as 30 thousand Euros from citizens living in one of the poorest settlements in Podgorica, according to the system that was also applied in the case of employees in public companies.
The State Prosecutor’s Office has evidence that includes the case from Berane, where DPS campaign, through alleged donations, was financially supported even by social welfare beneficiaries, who received it due to the alleged inability to provide groceries for the family, firewood or electricity bills.
Donations of employees for 2018 presidential elections as well
Workers of these two companies from Podgorica also helped the presidential campaign of Milo Đukanović in 2018. At that time, six employees of “Vodovod” paid €5240, while two employees of the Fire Department paid additional € 1350.
Čađenović regular donor of the party
Andrija Čađenović, current director of “Čistoća” company from Podgorica, stands out among the regular donors of DPS. He supported DPS’ campaign for the last parliamentary elections with one thousand Euros, and paid another € 300 euros for Đukanović’s candidacy for the president of Montenegro in 2018. The director of “Čistoća” also helped DPS in the local elections, thus, in 2018 he paid € 200 for the campaign in Podgorica, and another € 1,000 this year for the postponed local elections in Tivat.
