Today, MANS called on the Government of Montenegro to adopt a formal Decision on introducing international restrictive measures as soon as possible, in order to really enable the competent Montenegrin institutions to implement the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia due to military aggression against Ukraine.
According to the Law on International Restrictive Measures, the government shall adopt this decision at the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the decision shall determine the basis for the introduction and type of specific sanctions, the manner of application, as well as the manner of actions of state bodies and other entities responsible for implementation of sanctions.
This law prescribes that sanctions shall be implemented by state bodies, local self-government bodies, banks and other financial institutions, as well as all other legal and natural persons.
By joining economic and individual sanctions of the EU against Russia, Montenegro has committed to implement measures related to the freezing of funds and economic resources of natural and legal persons that are on the list of EU sanctions.
This implies the restriction on the disposal and acquisition of other property, a ban on the conversion, transfer or trade of all assets or other property that is in direct or indirect ownership or control of persons on the list of sanctions.
In addition, the Law on International Restrictive Measures obliges all natural and legal persons who “come to know about funds and/or other property related to designated persons” that are the subject of sanctions, to inform the Police Directorate without delay.
Therefore, it is very important for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to immediately publish on its website a list of natural and legal persons that will be sanctioned on the territory of Montenegro due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Freezing of these assets and the identification of companies related to individuals on the EU sanctions list may be a particular issue bearing in mind that Montenegro does not yet have a fully functioning register of beneficial ownership of companies.
This is all the more so because in the previous three decades, many high-ranking state and political officials of the Russian Federation bought valuable real estate on the Montenegrin coast, and it was not uncommon for real ownership to be hidden behind companies from offshore destinations.
We are witnesses that the international community has been tightening the circle of sanctions in recent days, especially targeting Russian oligarchs and their property, while the passiveness of the Government of Montenegro when it comes to concrete actions to implement sanctions is worrying.
We hereby once again call on the Government to urgently adopt a decision which will operationalize EU sanctions on our territory, and which will send an unequivocal message that Montenegro can no longer be a safe place for hiding of property.
MANS
