Dejan Milovac, Director of the MANS Investigative centre, interview with “Monitor”
“As long as we ‘nurture’ the new Svetozar Marović in Budva, there cannot be substantial changes when it comes to the rule of law in this area.”
- According to MANS, in the last few months, the President of the Municipality of Budva, Marko Carević, built new facilities on illegally occupied property without a building permit. What does that tell you?
Unfortunately, “Carević” case shows that the practice established by DPS in the last 30 years continues, and that we are witnessing the creation of a new generation of privileged tycoons close to the authorities who are above the laws and regulations of this state. The promise to break with this practice is one of the reasons why the opposition won last year’s elections, among other things, and in the “Carević” case alone we see how sincere that promise really was.
It is almost unbelievable that this case has been ignored by the political parties that make up the new government, despite the fact that it is the single largest usurpation of the state property. This is a topic that the majority avoids by making political calculations that dealing with Carević is currently not profitable or necessary.
While the entire case is absolutely clear, with a lot of publicly available evidence of criminal offences committed (and still being committed) by Marko Carević, the State Prosecutor’s Office is in no hurry to prosecute him.
Such situation has led to the fact that Carević, encouraged by the passivity of the State Prosecutor’s Office, continued with usurpation and illegal construction.
He was not prevented from his actions by the inspection of the line minister Ratko Mitrović, or by the Police Directorate, which is supposed to react to reports of illegal construction and seizure of state property.
Instead of the legally prescribed punishment, the new Government continued to support Carević in the illegal business in Krimovica. Thus, the data on payments from the budget showed that the new Ministry of Agriculture continued to pay Carević subsidies for the farm he built on the state land.
That the change of government is not enough to move on from a deadlock situation in this area, is also shown by the attitude of Prime Minister Krivopić himself towards this case, but also by the line ministers Mitrović and Stijović.
Finally, when it comes to Carević, the new government has not gotten very far from the tycoon’s service and continues to send the message that not all are equal before the law.
As long as we ‘nurture’ the new Svetozar Marović in Budva, there cannot be substantial changes when it comes to the rule of law in this area.
“I think that the control of the work of state-owned companies is imperative if we do not want our history to be repeated and if we do not want, for example, for AirMontenegro to become new MontenegroAirlines, not to mention other state-owned companies that have been a deadwood for the state budget for years.”
- Your organization welcomed the establishment of “Montenegro Works” company, which is going to monitor the management of state property. However, the decision of the Ministry of Finance to establish that company provoked conflicting reactions. Why do you think this move will help fight corruption?
We are witnessing that the new government has succumbed to the demands of political parties to “install” its people to leading positions that, I believe, was a move by which the parties conditioned their support to the government in parliament. Such a compromise caused multiple issues to the new government, starting from the (justified) perception that the change of government did not mean the end of political employment, all the way to a situation where people whose capacities are insufficient to run certain institutions are employed. That is the price that the government of Zdravko Krivokapić decided to pay in order to provide support in the parliament.
The examples of important state-owned companies, such as Electric Power Company of Montenegro (EPCG) or Airports of Montenegro, where there are already suspicious about party employment and management which does not differ significantly from that of the previous government, show how this looks this in practice.
Therefore, we believe that the control of the work of state-owned companies is imperative if we do not want our history to be repeated and if we do not want to, for example, for AirMontenegro to become new MontenegroAirlines, not to mention other state-owned companies that have been a deadwood for the state budget for years.
What will certainly be one of the key challenges for the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare is the staffing of positions in this new state-owned company, and it is very important that the staff of unquestionable professional integrity perform this job.
Continuous inspection of the work of all employees in the state administration is something we have not had the opportunity to see in the party state administration so far. It remains to be seen to what extent the Ministry of Finance will be able to keep this control out of politics.
“Independent prosecutors brave enough to knock on the door of any politician will be the final proof that the changes in Montenegro have begun to yield concrete results.”
- How important is the establishment of the Prosecutorial Council in fight against corruption, as well as the rule of law in general? What is your opinion on everything that has been done since August in the field of strengthening institutions?
A lot of time has been wasted on political discussions, calculations and blackmails for the sake of a few more seats, the board of directors or the state appanage. The government has been completely passive regarding legislative part of the reform, which has led to a situation where the much-needed prosecutorial reform was coloured by the payback of a part of the new political majority that had an indisputable direct interest in removing Milivoje Katnić and his team.
Of course, Katnić’s results have long been a reason not only for his dismissal, but for determining criminal liability as well. However, I think that the manner in which new judges and prosecutors are elected can be a serious problem once the government changes again.
The process of establishing the Prosecutorial Council should show us whether and to what extent the new prosecutorial organization would be independent of the political influence of the new parliamentary majority. Anything less than that would take us back to the dark era of DPS’ rule, where the “game” would remain the same, only the players would change.
How important it is to get a functioning prosecutorial organization as soon as possible is shown by the evidence of everything that has happened in the last 30 years, which is only accumulating, without concrete action that would result in indictments and lawsuits for corruption. Independent prosecutors brave enough to knock on the door of any politician will be the final proof that the changes in Montenegro have begun to yield concrete results.
“The impression is that the Government is not dealing enough with obstructions, sometimes so little that it raises the question of real political will to turn pre-election promises into concrete actions on the ground.”
- What about the fight against organized crime? For months, there have been rumours that tobacco smuggling continues, even after the previous regime left, while almost every day the government gives statements that it will deal with this type of crime.
Unfortunately, for now, there is more marketing and promises than concrete actions. I think that this is partly conditioned by the need of the government to maintain a good atmosphere of the August victory in the public, and the image that something is being done continuously in that field. Although such a strategy can in the short run benefit those who “take pictures of themselves” more than they actually work, I believe that the citizens, as well as the international community, will soon seek concrete results in the fight against organized crime.
As expected, there is a number of obstructions when it comes to the fight against organized crime, from the administration itself, which is still the source of data in state institutions, to various interest groups that still do not want to give up certain influence when it comes to organized crime in Montenegro.
We have seen in the example of cigarette smuggling that there are serious shortcomings in the area of access to information that threaten to completely discredit any effort by the state to deal with this issue. The impression is that the government is not dealing enough with obstructions, sometimes so little that it raises the question of real political will to turn pre-election promises into concrete actions on the ground.
“The Government shows a very low awareness of the need to free the legal framework in key areas from a number of useful ambiguities installed by the previous government.”
- MANS has repeatedly criticized the lack of transparency of the new government. What are the other issues of the new regime?
Access to information in some areas remains one of the key issues of the new government, and the fact that the Government shows a very low awareness of the need to free the legal framework in key areas from a number of useful ambiguities installed by the previous power.
Thus, there are still no amendments to the law on free access to information, the media, fight against corruption, spatial planning and construction of structures, a new law on the origin of property, there is no new spatial plan of Montenegro, although the current one expired last year.
There is a general impression that this part of the government’s plans is being implemented randomly, without a clear strategy that would be based on the priorities defined by the government itself.
In certain areas and matters that are important for Montenegrin society, such as the construction of the highway or the oil business, there is no serious effort to deviate from DPS’ practice. Thus, the Ministry of Capital Investments accepted the oil contract as the best DPS’ deal ever, without any intention of verifying it. On the other hand, the devastation of Tara by CRBC continues with the tacit approval of the line Ministry of Ecology and the Ministry of Capital Investments, which still keeps from the public most of the data that the government of Duško Marković has hidden in the last four years.
“Everything that happened after the elections is a picture of the maturity of the political elites who are now given the privilege to start building Montenegro and its institutions from scratch.”
- After August, there was so much talk about dismantling of Đukanović’s regime. Do you think that the process has even begun?
I think that the dismantling has begun, although the dynamics and model may not be to everyone’s liking. After 30 years, DPS did not form a government, and that is a fact and a concrete change brought about by last year’s elections. Functionally and psychologically, this first step was made – Montenegro’s society was shown on a concrete example the possibility of changing the government in the elections.
Everything that happened after the elections, from the formation of parliament and government, political blackmailing and party employment, the perception that in some areas after DPS’ rule we are stagnating or even going backwards, is all a picture of the maturity of political elites who are now given the privilege to start building Montenegro and its institutions from scratch. I believe that the party interest was above the public interest in more cases than we should have allowed, to the extent that it had a direct impact on the way in which the reforms were implemented.
Therefore, the dismantling of the DPS’ regime has begun, whether it will end with free institutions or establishing of another regime – it is up to us not to allow it.
