Branimir Popović, a professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDU) and a well-known actor, has resigned from the position of artistic director of the national theater, in order to prevent the Government's statement on the request of the Ministry of Culture that he be dismissed.
The department headed by Aleksandar Bogdanović requested the dismissal of Popović after the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) delivered to them a decision from June, stating that he violated anti-corruption regulations, because he did not submit an annual report on income and assets to the authorities.
This was announced by KAS to the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG). As they said, they will check the accuracy and completeness of the data from the subsequently submitted report by the end of the year.
The data obtained by CIN-CG show, however, that Popović previously did not disclose his real income to the Agency and the public, as required by law, claiming, for example, that he earns only 234 euros in addition to his professor's salary and that he only has one apartment in Podgorica .
In addition to the notification about the acceptance of the resignation, the Government did not offer any explanation in its public announcement. In a telephone conversation, the former artistic director of the Montenegrin National Theater (CNP) refused to answer CIN-CG's questions about this case.
Popović was appointed artistic director at the Government session on March 10, 2016. In the report on income and assets for that year, submitted to ASK, he claimed that he earns 1.250 euros per month as an art director and that he has no other income.
However, he received 1.000 euros per month as an official in that institution on supplementary work. In parallel, for the next two and a half years, until he resigned from the CNP, he also worked as a university professor at FDU.
According to unofficial information, the former rector Radmila Vojvodić warned him during 2016 and 2017 that he needed to regulate his legal status in accordance with the law, because he had an employment contract with the University.
At the beginning of 2017, Vojvodić informed Popović in writing that one of the legal possibilities is to "freeze" rights and obligations at the University.
However, the well-known actor concluded a contract with CNP on additional work, which was approved by the Ministry of Culture in April 2017. CIN-CG had access to that document, in which it is written that they agree that Popović works part-time as the artistic director of CNP and that he receives a monthly fee of 1.000 euros for a ten-hour weekly engagement.
The Labor Law specifies that the director can establish an employment relationship for a fixed or indefinite period of time by means of an employment contract. The Ministry of Culture assessed that "the work of an artistic director is of a specific nature and can be performed as supplementary work". A year later, however, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, just before Popović's resignation, gave an opinion that there is no legal basis for the director's position to be performed by supplementary work.
In the report on income and assets for 2017, Popović informed the ASK that he earned 234 euros as an art director, and 1.050 euros as a professor at FDU.
In the non-governmental organization Center for Civic Education (CGO), they claim that Popović, as an employee of the University, according to their information, did not seek or receive the consent of the management to be able to conclude a supplementary contract with CNP, where he was the artistic director.
"In that way, the Statute of the UCG was violated, as well as the Labor Law, which obliges the employee to obtain the mutual agreement of the employers when concluding multiple employment contracts," said Željka Ćetković, program assistant at the CGE.
Popović, from the position of artistic director, also collected additional income based on the performances in which he played in the CNP. He did not provide the ASK with information on the fees he received as an actor. Well-informed sources close to Popović claim that last year he earned 3.000 euros for the play "Suicide", in which he portrays the character of Father - Jelpidi. He received an additional 150 euros for each performance. In May 2017 alone, according to the repertoire available on the Internet, the play "Suicide" was performed three times.
In Popović's reports on income and assets, there is no data for the other shows he played either. Interlocutors close to Popović claim that he received 5.000 euros for the character of Prospero in the play "The Tempest", as well as 2.500 euros for the character of the Journalist in the play "Learned Women", but these figures are not in the ASK reports either.
"Given that the artistic director proposes the repertoire, the choice of the director and other artistic collaborators, it is problematic from the point of view of the fight against corruption, that Popović dominantly includes himself in the repertoire, thus obtaining additional profit by using a public function", assessed Željka Ćetković from CGO.
She considers it "truly illogical and physically impossible" for someone to simultaneously be a full-time professor at the FDU in Cetinje, an artistic director on a supplementary engagement at the CNP in Podgorica, and one of the most engaged actors in the theater repertoire.
CGO: ASK was in no hurry to punish Popović
The CGE believes that the ASK in the case of Popović did not establish the factual situation in a timely manner. In that NGO, they suspect that he violated the Law on Prevention of Corruption, in terms of timeliness, accuracy and completeness of data in reports on income and assets for the previous two years.
They also pointed out the possible existence of a conflict of interest when performing a public function - art director of CNP and other engagements. The CGE pointed out that the ASK website does not yet have his report, which every manager must submit after leaving public office.
"The ASK website does not yet have his complete property record... The ASK did not rush to punish Popović for not submitting a report 30 days after the termination of his office, as was done, for example, in the case of the former general director of RTCG, which indicates selectivity approach of KAS", said Ćetković.
The CGE announced at the beginning of this year that the former Minister of European Affairs, Aleksandar Andrija Pejović, had the status of ambassador at the same time, contrary to the Constitution. That NGO asked Prime Minister Duško Marković to dismiss Pejović, while ASK sent a request to initiate proceedings against Pejović.
In February, the KAS established that Pejović, as a public official, violated the Law on Prevention of Corruption, because contrary to the Constitution, he simultaneously had the status of ambassador.
After that, Pejović resigned, as he claimed, for moral reasons.
The Government's decision to dismiss someone does not produce the same consequences as when it accepts someone's resignation, treating it as a personal act. The Law on the Prevention of Corruption stipulates that an official, who is dismissed by the competent authority for violating that regulation, cannot perform a public function, i.e. the work of a civil servant, for the next four years.
There were two apartments in the cadastre, one in the card
Popović did not report to ASK that in the previous period he was the owner of another apartment in Podgorica. In his property records, it is written that he is the owner of a 97-square-meter apartment in Podgorica, which he bought, as well as part of an inherited house. However, the real situation in the cadastre, which the journalist had an insight into, looked different. At that time, according to cadastral data, in addition to the 97-square-meter apartment he registered, Popović also owned another 98-square-meter apartment. As of yesterday, in the cadastral data, Popović is the owner of only the 98-square-meter apartment, but not the 97-square-meter one that was registered with ASK.
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