Today, MANS urged the Government of Montenegro to withdraw the Conclusion on the use of the current budget funds for the first three months of this year without delay until it changes the rulebook on its use and defines clear and transparent criteria for spending of money of Montenegrin citizens.
At yesterday’s session, the Government adopted the Conclusion which plan is to distribute 200 thousand euros from the current budget funds for the period January-March 2021. The decision on half of that money will be made by the Inner Cabinet of the Government of Montenegro, and on the remaining 100 thousand euros by the Commission for distribution of budget reserve funds and Commission for assessment of damages from natural disasters.
As stated in the Conclusion, the funds are intended to help legal entities to finance activities, as well as natural persons for treatment, education and improvement of the material situation, and rehabilitation of the consequences of natural disasters.
According to the Conclusion, these funds will be spent in accordance with the Rulebook on detailed criteria for the use of funds from the current and permanent budget reserve from 2009.
However, the rulebook adopted by the DPS government back in 2009, apart from the amount, does not define “detailed criteria” according to which the money should be distributed, and we are witnesses that in the previous period, such a legal definition was an excuse for numerous abuses from the budget, especially when it comes to social benefits in the pre-election period.
Therefore, we believe that the existing rulebook does not meet even the minimum requirements for ensuring full transparency in the distribution of state money from the current budget reserve, and it represents a legacy of the previous government.
This is especially important bearing in mind the upcoming local elections in Nikšić in March, which must be free of any suspicions when it comes to spending funds from Montenegro’s state budget, and in that sense must show that there is a serious political willingness to break with the previous practice in this area.
Bearing in mind all the above, we once again urge the government to immediately stop the implementation of the mentioned conclusion and the distribution of funds from the budget reserve, and to ensure that it is transparent and free of abuses of any kind through the adoption of concrete and publicly available criteria.
Dejan Milovac
MANS
