Police inspectors for economic crime are checking whether the Municipality of Ulcinj spent EUR 900.000 from the sale of land on Pristan for an inappropriate purpose at the beginning of the year, it was confirmed to "Vijesta" from several sources.
According to the same information, several people, including some members of the Ulcinj parliament, were called to the police for an interview on that occasion.
"The investigation is still of an informal nature, that's why there are no records of the hearing. "These are preliminary checks," said an interlocutor from the investigation to "Vijesta".
The inspectors allegedly suspect that the Municipality spent the money for workers' salaries and other operating expenses, instead of for the construction of two cinema halls, as specified by the adopted decision of the Municipal Assembly of July 31, 2019, which was also published in the Official Gazette.
Article three of that decision states that the proceeds from the sale will be used to invest in capital investments, "that is, as a priority for the construction of a cinema hall in the city center and in Vladimir with all accompanying facilities, as well as financing other capital projects."
Yesterday, "Vijesti" did not receive any answers from the Municipality to the questions of where and for what the money from the sale of the land at Pristan in the amount of 900 thousand euros was spent, why the decision of the local parliament was not fully respected and whether anyone from the Municipality was questioned by the police about this. .
The Police Administration did not officially respond to the questions of "Vijesti" either.
Everything is clear
Member of the opposition URA, Omer Bajraktari, said that the situation regarding the spending of money from the sale of property on the Port is crystal clear.
"Those funds were spent for the wrong purpose, and there is no doubt about that. With our amendment, which became an integral part of the decision, we clearly specified the purpose of those funds, that is, to build a new movie theater from those 900.000 euros. This was not respected because the funds were spent a long time ago for other purposes, although they could have been saved in a separate account to be used for the purpose determined by the SO", said Bajraktari to "Vijesta".
He stated that the principle of functioning of local self-government is unacceptable - to sell property in order to cover operational costs.
Power in Ulcinj is held by DPS, Forca, DP, DUA, SD and BS, and in the local parliament the ruling coalition has 30, out of a total of 33 councilors.
Bad grades
SDP member Naser Resulbegović said that it is not a surprise that citizens' money is being wasted, reminding that last year, among other reasons, the DRI "honored" the municipality with a double negative rating.
"If, in this case, an unprecedented majority spent money inappropriately, I support and encourage the competent authorities to investigate everything to the end, establish the factual situation and possibly sanction those responsible," said Resulbegović to "Vijesta".
A plot of land in Pristan with a total area of 448 square meters was bought in early February by a citizen of Kosovo, Lirim Mustafa, who was the only participant in the public invitation announced on January 900, for 20 euros, which was the starting price of the auction.
They are selling attractive plots of land in Pristan, from the beginning they were followed by controversies.
In the ruling coalition, especially between DPS and Force, there was no complete agreement on whether the plot should be sold or whether a maritime museum should be built in its place, which was also requested by some non-governmental organizations.
That is why the Parliament, thanks to the votes of the ruling coalition, adopted the amendment of the opposition URA on the imperative channeling of funds from sales for capital investments.
In addition, the entire sales process was also burdened by property relations, as local resident Šefkija Išmakić claimed that his 28 square meters were also included in the square footage of the advertised plot. from 2018.
On the plot in the immediate vicinity of the Pomoraca mosque, the construction of a business-residential building P+2 is planned. The cadastral plot was the property of the Government, while the municipality had the right to dispose of it. The public invitation was preceded by the consent of the Government and the decision of the local parliament from July last year.
Previously, Sami Flamuri from Ulcinj submitted to the Constitutional Court an initiative to assess the constitutionality and legality of the municipal parliament's decision to issue a public call for the transfer of property on construction land in Pristan.
Flamuri proposed to the Constitutional Court to cancel the decision since, as he stated in the initiative, it conflicts with the Regulation on the sale and leasing of things in state property, which stipulates that the starting price in the auction sale is determined in the process of assessing its market value.
"The determination procedure was carried out by the appraiser Optimal Property Solutions Montenegro doo Bar, in the amount of 395.000 euros. The assessment was modified by the proposal of the President of the Municipality during the discussion and accepted by the councilors", stated Flamuri in the initiative.
The president of the municipal parliament and a high-ranking official of the ruling Force, Ilir Čapuni, said that there was surprisingly too much haste in expropriating the property at Pristan, despite the fact that one citizen sent the decision in question to the Constitutional Court for legality examination, and he also informed the President of the Municipality Ljor Nrekić about this circumstance and Commission.
"The uncontrolled number of employees in the Municipality normally creates the so-called holes in its budget, and it is also obvious that the municipality's finances and budget are being managed in an unknown manner", commented Čapuni, stating that the inspectors are checking whether the Municipality spent the money from the sale of land on the Pier for the wrong purpose.
The reconstruction of the destroyed cinema hall in the city center was recently announced by the Government after the visit of the Minister of Culture, Aleksandar Bogdanović, to Ulcinj. Bogdanović is also the DPS coordinator for the upcoming parliamentary elections for the Ulcinj municipality.
The city is at an all-time low
Bajraktari assessed that the local government showed that it has no vision of development by spending the funds from the sale of land on the Pristan for the wrong purpose.
"Instead of a new cinema hall, the parties in power faced fuel, electricity, representation and salaries. The number of illegal employment has been at an astronomical level for a long time and we, as a city, are at a historical minimum by all parameters because of all that," Bajraktari said.
Čapuni stated that Ulcinj is the only municipality in Montenegro in which, in accordance with the law, decisions on the final account for last year were not submitted to the Assembly for adoption.
"The legal deadline for adopting and rebalancing the budget for the current year has passed, and SAI gave a double negative assessment last year. The list of such phenomena does not stop there, but these mentioned facts speak not only about the problems, but also about the approach and will to solve them by the executive body and especially the responsible body for the budget and finances", said Capuni, whose Forca is part of the ruling coalition. .
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