In just six months this year, the Public Works Administration spent over € 12 million on improving the tourist offer, which is almost nine million more compared to the same period last year when there were no elections. This is just one of the drastic increases in spending in the election year, which indicate that this institution was one of the key ones in the so-called officials’ field campaign of DPS, as shown by the analysis of the MANS Investigative Centre.
Prime Minister Duško Marković – laying of the foundation stone, Katun žarski
This year’s tourist season, whose results were decimated by the coronavirus epidemic and the late opening of borders for tourists, was not an obstacle for the Public Works Administration to significantly increase the allocation of money for “improving the tourist economy”. Individually, most of that money went to the construction company “Novi Volvox”, which has been paid more than a third of that money since the beginning of the year, i.e. as much as € 4.7 million. The second supplier of the Administration was the company “Bemax”, which was paid close to one million Euros.
Individually, compared to last year, the Administration had the largest increase from the budget programme “construction and reconstruction of administrative space for the work of state bodies.” In the period from February to August this year, the Administration spent as much as € 6.6 million for these purposes, which is ten times more compared to the same period last year when there were no elections. Individually, the largest part of that money, € 2.7 million, was paid to the company “Bemax”, while € 2.1 million was paid to the company “Čelebić”.
Head of the Public Works Administration is Rešad Nuhodžić, long-time official of the Democratic Party of Socialists and a member of the Main Board of that party.
Rešad Nuhodžić, head of the Administration
Compared to the non-election year, the spending for “construction and reconstruction of social care facilities” was doubled. In the period from February to August this year, the Administration spent € 3.2 million, while for the same period last year, € 1.5 million was allocated. Half of this money was paid in the period after the parliamentary elections were called.
The construction of local roads and the arrangement of parks were especially intensified during this year’s election campaign. This is shown by the data that the Administration spent € 3.3 million for these works this year, which is almost three times more compared to the same period last, non-election year.
The analysis of the MANS Investigative Centre showed that the Administration spent more money from the budget item “construction and reconstruction of sports facilities” as well. Thus, this year in the observed period it allocated nearly € 1.8 million, which is twice as much compared to the same period in 2019. The data show that the Administration spent half of that money after the elections were called, and that the most money was spent in July.
Drastic increase was also recorded when it comes to investments in water supply infrastructure. In the observed period, the Administration spent half a million Euros from the budget line “water supply systems”, which is twice as much as compared to the same period last year. In the first two weeks of August this year alone, around € 140,000 of that money was spent.
Dejan Milovac
State projects in the service of DPS’ promotion
Enormous increase in expenditures for works this year is happening despite the coronavirus epidemic and the upcoming economic crisis. The analysis of MANS also shows that this spending of the budget of the Administration corresponds with clear officials’ campaign conducted by DPS officials on the field this year. The Prime Minister Duško Marković and the Minister of Agriculture Milutin Simović who used the projects financed from state money through the Public Works Administration to gain the so-called institutional advantage before the upcoming elections, came first in that. Thus, Duško Marković visited the projects of the Administration in Podgorica, Bar, Mojkovac, Kolašin, Plav, Bijelo Polje and Žabljak. This type of use of state resources for the needs of political promotion in the pre-election period was also criticized by the ODHIR observation mission during the previous presidential elections in 2018.
