In the first nine months of 2016, the year of election, 17 Montenegrin municipalities employed at least 2,125 officers on the basis of a permanent contract, fixed-term contract, temporary work, as well as on the basis of the internship. Municipalities continued intensive employment, despite the fact that, since 2010, the government\u2019s ban on employment had been in force, because of huge debts of local governments.<\/p>\n
In March 2010, the Government of Montenegro asked the Ministry of Finance to assist the financial recovery of municipalities,\u00a0because of their high levels of indebtedness, amounting to \u20ac167.77 million. The government then pointed the municipalities had large budget deficits and surplus employees, while precise data show that in early 2010 local governments \u00a0had a total of 10,751 employed persons.<\/p>\n
Financial restructuring of municipalities implied rescheduling of the tax debt, co-financing of redundancies and indebtedness, provided that the municipalities suspend employment, that local officials and employees who get severances cannot be employed in the public administration, that the calculation of earnings is based on a coefficient which applies to civil servants and state employees, and that they would not borrow money without the consent of the government.<\/p>\n