- Until 2011, an offshore company “Bluray Limited” registered in the Caribbean archipelago, was owned by Predrag Pavličić, husband of Valentina Pavličić, who was a judge of the High Court in Podgorica during that period. The company was bought in 2007 because a motor vessel was registered to it, which Mrs. Pavličić never reported to the competent Commission for Prevention of Conflict of Interest.
- In official property statements on the website of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC), there is no information that this company was sold in 2011 to the company Bemax in exchange for an apartment in Podgorica.
Author: Dejan Milovac (dejan.milovac@mans.co.me)
Montenegro’s representative before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, Valentina Pavličić, was a judge of the High Court in Podgorica for many years, and until 2015, she was also a judge of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Corruption, Terrorism and War Crimes within that court, where she acted in the most complex criminal cases, such as the case of Zavala from Budva.
The property statement of Representative Pavličić shows that she and the members of her household own significant real estate and savings deposits, as well as shares in several companies.
Valentina Pavličić, Montenegro’s representative before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Photo: Government of Montenegro.
However, in the property statements of Valentina Pavličić, which are publicly available on the website of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, there is no information that her husband, Predrag Pavličić, owned the company “Blueray Limited”, registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, one of the islands of the Caribbean archipelago.
Excerpt from the Share Purchase Agreement of the company “Blueray Limited”, Photo: MANS
Data obtained by the MANS Investigative Centre show that Predrag Pavličić was the sole owner of this off-shore company until mid-2011, after which he sold it to the company Bemax from Podgorica. According to the Share Purchase Agreement, the value of the company was 50 thousand euros.
Excerpt from the Share Purchase Agreement of the company “Blueray Limited”, Photo: MANS
Answering questions from the MANS Investigative Centre, Valentina Pavličić said she was aware of the fact that her husband owned an offshore company:
“I am aware that in the summer of 2007, my husband bought the shares of the company you expressed interest in, because a motor vessel was already registered to it. I would like to point out that it was not a new, but a used, several-year-old vessel.”
In the written response of MANS, Pavličić also claims that her husband did not use the mentioned company for other businesses, but that it was only used for the registration of vessels because Montenegro did not have its own vessel registry at that time.
However, despite the obligation to report the total assets of all members of her household, data from the APC’s website show that Pavličić failed to report to the competent authorities that her husband owned an offshore company. Thus, in the property statements that she submitted as a judge of the High Court in the period from 2007 to 2011, there is no information about the company that was owned by her husband, Predrag Pavličić.
The then Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest, as well as the current Law on Prevention of Corruption, clearly stipulate the obligation of public officials to truthfully report their personal property as well as property of their household members, including ownership shares in companies.
The then judge of the High Court was also obliged to submit a special report on the change in the value of property exceeding 5000 euros after the purchase of the company, because it was obvious that the company does not exist only on paper, but also had certain assets, which did not happen.
Excerpt from the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest
In May 2011, the offshore company was sold for 50,000 euros, and instead of cash, Bemax transferred ownership of a 46-m2 apartment in the “Normal Company” building near the cathedral in Podgorica to the name of Predrag Pavličić.
Excerpt from the Share Purchase Agreement of the company “Blueray Limited”, Photo: MANS
Just four months before it was to be given to Pavličić family as compensation for the offshore company, Bemax bought this apartment for close to 68,000 euros from the wife of Zoran Tomčić, one of the dismissed assistants of the former Director of the Police Administration, Veselin Veljović.
Excerpt from the Contract between Bemax and Tomčić
Predrag Pavličić soon gave the apartment he thus acquired from the Bemax company to his father, and his father gave it to his daughter, Predrag’s sister. After “circulating” within the family for several years, the Pavličić finally sold this apartment in 2019 for 50,000 euros to Danijela Golubović, wife of the controversial official of the Montenegrin public and secret police, Duško Golubović.
Excerpt from the contract between Nevenka Pavličić and Danijela Golubović. Photo: MANS
In this way, the ownership of this property was changed as much as six times in eight years.
Complete documentation that we obtained during this investigation will be handed over to the competent Agency for Prevention of Corruption and the Special State Prosecutor’s Office.
Documents:
Share Purchase Agreement concluded between Predrag Pavličić and the company Bemax
Agreement on the purchase of an apartment concluded between the company Bemax and Jelena Tomčić
Gift Agreement for an apartment concluded between Predrag Pavličić (son) and Tomaš Pavličić (father)
Agreement on the sale of an apartment concluded between Nevenka Pavličić and Danijela Golubović
Property statements of public official Valentina Pavličić for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 (statements are submitted by the end of March of the current year for the state of property and income during the previous year)
