We are not surprised by the reaction of the Mayor of Podgorica, Ivan Vuković, to our investigation, or even by the narrative he uses, which obviously suits him perfectly. We are pleased that after months of silence on this topic, the procedure of terminating the harmful business, to which MANS warned the Capital City for months, has been initiated.
Ivan Vuković, Mayor of Podgorica
At the end of August, KfW Bank informed Podgorica’s “Vodovod” that it was no longer possible to continue financing the contract with the company “Toškovići” since its owner had been convicted, and that this was a violation of the tender procedure.
Response of the KfW Bank
The judgement was submitted to KfW bank by the very MANS, at the bank’s request, so that the authorities in that financial institution could get acquainted with all the relevant facts before making the above-mentioned decision. Neither the Capital City nor Vodovod did that, although they were obliged to know that domestic legislation, as well as the rules of KfW Bank, do not allow the conclusion of contract with persons convicted by a final judgement. We are quite convinced that the contract with “Toškovići” would have remained in force if the MANS’ investigation had not taken place, because both Vuković and the director of Vodovod Filip Makrid had full information about who was Ivica Tošković with whom they signed a contract worth € 1.83 million.
In addition, MANS has been trying since the end of July to get a comment from the Capital City and Vodovod on the investigation we published, but the choice of Vuković and Makrid was to remain silent until the decision of KfW Bank and the publication of our investigative story.
Thus, we understand the tension that Vuković displays in his public appearance, as well as the clumsy attempt to wrap an obvious violation of the law into some kind of political persecution and lynch. As for Vuković himself, MANS finds him completely uninteresting as a politician, however, as a public official he must understand that, like his predecessors, he will always be under the scrutiny of MANS, as well as of the entire public.
We will not comment on the personal qualifications that Vuković publicly stated in the absence of arguments, because that is the level we refuse to stoop to. We can only accept them as a reflection of the obvious weakness and inability to face indisputable facts as a public official, and accept responsibility for breaking the law.
Yesterday, MANS announced filing of criminal charges against Vuković and others involved in this harmful business, which will happen as early as next week.
Dejan Milovac
Director of the Investigative Centre
MANS
