At the end of July last year, the High Court in Podgorica accepted the plea agreement by which the owner of the company “Toškovići”, Ivica Tošković, confessed creating a criminal organization and tax evasion. However, that did not stop the Agency for Development and Construction of Podgorica from concluding several contracts worth close to two million Euros with this company.
Ivica Toskovic
MANS Investigative Centre, which last week revealed the details of the company’s job with Podgorica’s company Vodovod, points out that the last in a series of contracts was concluded in February, three months after Tošković was convicted, and that none of the work was completed on time.
In mid-February, the Agency for Construction and Development of Podgorica awarded the company “Toškovići” the job of reconstructing the street “July 18” in the Podgorica settlement of Momišići. The contract with this company worth € 400 thousand was signed by the director of the Agency, Srđan Raičević, at the moment when its owner, Ivica Tošković, had already been convicted for three months for creating a criminal organization and tax evasion. Along with the application for this tender, Ivica Tošković submitted the Certificate of the Ministry of Justice from August last year, stating that he was not convicted!
The Agency replied to MANS that they did not additionally check the documentation submitted by Tošković, but they also pointed out that it was in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement:
– The bidder “Toškovići” LLC submitted a certified copy of the Certificate of the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro from August 9, 2019, that there are no data in the criminal records of the conviction of Ivica Tošković, whose validity had not expired at that time, thus, no additional check was performed.”
In addition to this job, the company “Toškovići” was previously awarded the reconstruction of Veliša Mugoša Street in Zagorič, and Vuka Karadžića Street in the centre of the capital city. Both contracts, worth over a million and a half Euros, were signed by the Agency in October last year, after the High Court in Podgorica confirmed a plea agreement with the company’s owner, Ivica Tošković.
MANS, which filed a criminal complaint against Tošković at the beginning of this week, as well as against Mayor Ivan Vuković for the disputed deal with “Vodovod” from Podgorica, warns that the city administration did not take into account the protection of the public interest:
“It is unacceptable that millions of Euros from the city budget go into the pockets of people convicted of serious crimes, and these cases that we pointed out alone confirm that the Capital City does not conduct even the most basic checks of publicly available information. The information that Tošković was convicted was publicly available, and the obligation of the Capital City was to protect the public interest in this case. MANS has already asked the State Prosecutor’s Office to check in detail all relations between Tošković and the leading people of the city administration and determine what was the motive of Mayor Vuković and other city officials to spend the money of the citizens of Podgorica in this way.”
That the business with the company “Toškovići” was detrimental to the interest of the citizens of Podgorica, is also shown by the situation on the construction sites where this company performs works.
The works in “July 18” Street were supposed to be finished at the end of August, and apart from the excavated street and part of the machinery, there are currently no workers of the company “Toškovići”.
The works in Veliše Mugoše Street started at the end of last year. The deadline to complete the job was just over three months. The situation on the ground shows that the company “Toškovići” did not finish this job even several months after breaking the deadline.
Veliše Mugoše Street
The most valuable contract in the amount of around € 850 thousand referred to Vuka Karadžića Street, whose reconstruction began at the end of November last year, with the obligation for Tošković to complete all works within three months. Although it is opened to traffic, the reconstruction of this road is not finished yet. That the Capital City, however, did not save money when it comes to this contract is shown by the price of greenery with which the street is equipped. Thirty eight camphor trees were planted and each tree was paid around € 530.
Vuka Karadžića Street
The Agency justifies breaking of deadlines with reasons with which, according to them, “most were not familiar at the time of setting deadlines for completion”, including underground installations they did not know existed, weather conditions, state and New Year’s holidays, unresolved property relations, and coronavirus epidemic. The Agency also refers to the Decision on interim measures to mitigate adverse effects of the new Coronavirus disease on the financial system, which was passed by the Parliament and gives contractors the possibility to prolong the completion of works.
According to MANS, most works agreed with Tošković should have been completed even before the coronavirus epidemic, while other reasons stated by the Agency are extremely frivolous, and they indicate an extremely poorly prepared tender procedure.
MANS Investigative Centre sent questions regarding the affairs of the company “Toškovići” to the Mayor Ivan Vuković as well, but as in the case of the contract with “Vodovod”, there has been no answer from his office.
Dejan Milovac
Lazar Grdinić
MANS Investigative Centre
