Everyone involved in the job assignment to the company “Toškovići” knew from day one that it was a company whose owner was convicted of creating a criminal organization and tax evasion, while the “timely termination of the contract” that is now being announced, takes place five months after it was concluded , as well as nine months after Tošković was convicted. The choice of city officials was to remain silent until MANS informed KfW Bank and received an answer from it that further cooperation with convicted persons was not possible.
Makrid and Vuković
Namely, the information that Ivica Tošković made a plea agreement was published mid last year, and in November, the High Court in Podgorica convicted that person for criminal acts of creating a criminal organization and evading taxes and contributions, due to his role in the “Vardar” affair. Information about his arrest, the agreement reached and, finally, the verdict, were duly published in Montenegrin media.
After that, Vodovod announced a call for bids for the construction of the sewage system in December 2019, and in March this year it concluded a contract with Tošković. Already in May, Vodovod introduced a legally convicted person to job, all in the presence of Mayor Vuković and his assistants.
At the end of August, as MANS already announced, as part of the election campaign, Mayor Ivan Vuković publicly praised the quality of works and capacities of Tošković’s company on the construction site.
At that moment, Vuković was fully informed that Tošković was convicted of tax evasion since, among other things, he had previously received numerous questions from the Investigative Centre regarding the violation of the tender procedure of KfW Bank, which he duly ignored.
Ivan Vuković and the director of Vodovod, Filip Makrid, decided to remain silent, until MANS submitted a copy of the judgment of the High Court to KfW Bank in Frankfurt, which confirms that Tošković was convicted.
Therefore, it is difficult to talk about the “timely” termination of the contract, which we are quite sure would remain in force if MANS had not informed the creditors of that deal, KfW Bank, and requested a reaction. This is evidenced by the fact that Tošković’s workers and machines were present at the construction site and performed the works at the beginning of this week.
In addition, the claim that the certified statement of the applicant Tošković was submitted within the offer, guaranteeing that he was not convicted, does not release Vuković and the director of Vodovod, Filip Makrid, from liability, bearing in mind that this information was easily verifiable, and yet none of the authorities and employees felt the need to check it.
Finally, the claim of the Capital City that Tošković had previously “met all qualification requirements and was awarded a contract according to the bank’s guidelines and rules” is also incorrect, which KfW Bank itself confirmed after MANS informed it of the omission made by the institutions headed by Vuković and Makrid.
Due to all this and suspicion of fraud and abuse of power in the economy, MANS will file criminal charges against Ivica Tošković, which will include Ivan Vuković and Filip Makrid, all because of the suspicion that they committed criminal acts of abuse of office and negligent work in service.
