TELEVISION AND OTHER GAMES

One hundred days of deception

No increase in pensions, only the lowest ones were increased. And what happened to the promise that the state would borrow only for capital projects? Same with most others, crazy joy...

30312 views 86 reactions 0 comment(s)
Photo: Vijesti/Boris Pejović
Photo: Vijesti/Boris Pejović
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Friday, February 2 - It's the last week of the first hundred days of the work of Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and his Government, it's time to summarize the impressions, but I don't know where to start...

Maybe from the first and already published one, that there is no business in the timid head...

Or the other one, from the session of the parliament, where he refused to do what all 43 predecessors duly did - to present the prime minister's work plan in front of the deputies and the public.

But that's why he did what no one has done before, anywhere and not only in Montenegro - he announced the reconstruction of the Government before it was elected...

What she did for these 94 days, I don't know, because the Prime Minister initially banned the TV broadcast. And believing his words after the sessions was not realistic...

For what?

Well, because of the reality that, for an extended period of time, he prepared for us before he became prime minister...

I'm tired of reminding you of that reality, but I have to:

Do you have Serbian citizenship?

- I don't have it!...I never had it!... Actually, I did, but I submitted a request to be deleted from the list of citizens... I haven't yet, the lawyer forgot to submit it...

Do you have a property in Belgrade?

- I don't have any! I never had one!... Actually I did, but I sold it to my partner with whom I have a child together...

Uh, it's good that it's shared, if it were separate he would have to admit that he sold the apartment - to his own child...

* * *

Saturday, February 3 - And what did the continuation of that reality look like after the election?

Doubtful, economists would say, but not (only) when it comes to the prime minister's private financial activities, but the handling of state money.

In a broader sense, dubious means that which is unclear, doubtful, uncertain or uncertain...

In direct translation from Latin, dubious means two-faced, one who pretends, who deceives...

At the beginning of his mandate, the Prime Minister announced:

That his goal is to balance the budget;

That current revenues cover current expenses;

That they will borrow only to repay old loans and for capital projects.

The very next month it turned out that he had misled the public.

And that's not what I say, but his Ministry of Finance in the report on the execution of the budget.

The government of Milojko Spajić achieved a record monthly deficit of 146 million euros in December, and the state coffers lack a total of 172 million.

How is that shortfall covered?

In the same way that gamblers cover current expenses in the casino - with a loan.

The Government spent all 159 million, for which it borrowed from domestic banks and by issuing notes, to rehabilitate that shortfall.

It was not enough, so an additional foreign loan of 28,7 million euros was spent, as well as 17,9 million from the inherited deposit.

And why was there such a deficit in just one month?

Because budget expenditures amounted to 400 million instead of the planned 237, so expenditures increased by 163 million, and revenues by only 27 million - that's how the Ministry of Finance explained.

And what happened to the promise that the state would borrow only for capital projects?

Same with most others, crazy joy...

Only slightly more than a third of the planned twenty million was paid for capital expenditures.

* * *

Sunday, February 4 - And what happened to the Europe Now 2 program, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić explained. On TV CG, in the time slot reserved for the White Button and the comedy Neobični...

Logically, there was no music, but comedy - also logically - it was.

Unusual in every way, primarily because of the occasion.

One hundred working days of the Government? No matter what, because then the interview would not be done again and again.

It was a futile attempt to iron out the TV A-plus show Last Sunday. In which only buttons remained from the Prime Minister and his Government...

What remained of "Europe now two" was the increase in the lowest pensions that the Prime Minister announced for - February 13, six days before the deadline...

He was also premature with the categorical assertion that the entire program exists on paper. Because two minutes later, unprovoked, he himself admitted that - half is missing.

- We are also preparing the second part of "Europe now two", I think certain conditions have been met - Spajić said.

In response to the question whether "some parties that are not signatories to the agreement" are being prepared to join the government, only the DPS logo was missing:

- I am a supporter of the fact that we need as wide a circle of parties and leaders as possible to join this movement, which is a European movement, in some ideological sense.

And then he returned to the factory settings and showed what a supporter of the truth he is:

- Whenever the government produces results, my family is mentioned, before my minor child, former partners were mentioned, now my relatives are mentioned.

What is it - yes, they mention, but it has nothing to do with the work of the Government.

It was he who brought the family, minor child and former partners into public life a year ago, as an unsuspecting candidate for President...

Relatives, i.e. uncle, he introduced a little later, turning to ANB for help ahead of the opening of the Do Kwon affair...

* * *

Monday, February 5 - Unlike the current Binali Čamgoz, whom Spajić's government does not give any more than Krivokapić's sanctity, Hyeong Do Kwon is threatened with extradition even though the affair caused by his crypto-connections with the prime minister has not yet been resolved.

Despite this, the interview did not even mention Do Kwon's claims from the letter to the former Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and the current Chief Special Prosecutor:

That Spajić told him that he was "collecting a few million US dollars for the upcoming campaign".

That it is mostly financed by him personally, and "the rest by other friends from the crypto-industry".

That he asked Do Kwon to give him "his input", after which "the conversation went in a different direction".

That there is - which is the most important thing in this letter - "evidence of these communications and payments from other persons".

What did Spajić do after the letter?

Denied what none of the officials even claimed - that he received money from Do Kwon.

Terrorized the public with his own arrest, which no one even ordered.

And called on citizens not to gather and stay at home, even though they were not going anywhere...

What is really written in the letter - he did not refute.

The question that has often been asked, whether Do Kwon is a reliable witness, is answered by the beginning of his letter:

"Dear Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Special Prosecutor, I have known Miki Spajić since 2018. At that time he was an active investor in the crypto-currency industry and we became friends with a very successful investor relationship.

As we started investing early in a new industry, we were both successful, and it is my understanding that he retired from business to devote his energies to politics in his country," the letter states.

Do Kwon further writes that he has remained in contact with Spajić for the past five years.

"And when he came to Serbia at the end of last (2022, note a.) year, he told me that he was also in Belgrade and invited me to visit his family (former partner and child), and he also came to my apartment to apologize.

We talked about many things, but the primary topic of conversation was his planned candidacy for a high position in Montenegro.

He told me that the main goal of his candidacy was to improve the state's economy by adopting crypto-friendly policies - which I was also a fan of."

So much for the reliability of witnesses.

And the prime minister, for now...

PS The latest news, which will surely please Hyeong Do Kwon, comes from the Court of Appeal. The decision of the High Court in Podgorica, which established that the conditions for extradition have been met, was annulled. In that decision, the provisions of the criminal procedure are significantly violated, the sentence is incomprehensible, the reasons for decisive facts are not stated, and those that are - are not clear. With the wish that Do Kwon not be extradited until all ten of the above-mentioned ambiguities from the letter are cleared up, I admit that I was more interested in the end of the announcement than the beginning: In abbreviated proceedings, the decision on extradition is made by the court, not the Minister of Justice.

Bonus video:

(Opinions and views published in the "Columns" section are not necessarily the views of the "Vijesti" editorial office.)