Simović: Wife paid for her stay in Rome herself, she was a translator at the Splendid Hotel

Defendant Milutin Simović explained to the court that he and his wife Ljiljana stayed at the Splendid Hotel in 2019, and that she was a translator at the time.

He said he sincerely regretted presenting his wife's stay in that and an Italian hotel as a business trip and charging for it from the state treasury.

"In that sense, I am ready to bear the material and legal consequences. That is the only thing I would correct. It is a matter of a few hundred euros. My wife was with me in those hotels for the purpose of interpreting," he said today at the trial at the Higher Court in Podgorica.

The Special State Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against Simović, the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the government led by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), with the Special Department of the High Court in Podgorica, due to reasonable suspicion that he committed the continuing criminal offense of abuse of official position.

Speaking about his stay at the Splendid Hotel in early June 2017, Simović said that he spent that weekend working with then-Minister of Finance Darko Radunović, and that they worked intensively on developing a fiscal strategy. The cost of that stay at the hotel was 465 euros.

In addition, he stayed at the Splendid Hotel again in late March 2019 with his wife Ljiljana, when he spent 599 euros on official meetings. He stated that he took his wife with him because there was a possibility that he would need translation, given that he was meeting with representatives of the German company Agrotel.

"Important strategic documents for the forestry sector were concluded at that time and a meeting was held with State Secretary Milosav Andjelic," said Simovic.

He and his wife were also in Rome, when they had a meeting with representatives of IFAD regarding the project. He stayed in Italy on January 8 and 9. 2020, and the costs are 296 euros.

"Regarding the costs of travel and stay in Rome, the Ministry covered my expenses, and my wife covered her own. At the IFAD lunch, my wife did not eat lunch because she was translating, but she did have dinner later in an Italian restaurant," Simović explained.

At the end of October 2019, he held meetings in Luštica with the president of the Local Community of Cuca, Momo Jovanović, as well as the head of the Pensioners' Association, Branko Vešović, with whom he discussed the purchase of lambs. In a restaurant in Porto Montenegro in Tivat in September 2018, he had a business meeting with the owner of the meat industry, Đorđi Goranović, in the Budva tavern 'Demidžana' with the owner of 'Marteks', Dragan Martinović, then with farmer Ljubo Mitrović...

Simović said that he stayed at the "Čedi", "Palas" and "Ruža vjetrova" hotels for free, emphasizing that he was "honored" by this.

During his stay at "Čedija" from September 14 to 16, 2018, he had several business meetings on which he spent 113 euros. At the Nikšić hotel "Onogošt", Simović said that he had a bill of 143 euros, where he officially met with former workers of the steel mill.

Simović recalled that from November 2016 to December 2020, he served in the Government as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and was Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System.

"What was specific about my job was field work, visiting farmers, agriculturists. And not only that, in this position I met with numerous investors and officials. Considering the department I covered, the absolute priority was work in Montenegro. I have records that during my mandate there were 348 field visits to Montenegro," Simović said in his defense.

He added that, in terms of working hours and the jobs he performed, those working hours were 24/7.

The legal representative of the state of Montenegro specified the claim for property and legal benefit in the amount of 5.029 euros.

He then explained the expenses of the team.

"Regarding representation expenses, I must say that, in addition to the representation expenses to which I was entitled as a minister, I was also entitled to presentation expenses as Deputy Prime Minister, which I did not use," said Simović.

He stated that the State Audit Institution had conducted several cost audits in the relevant period and that nothing objectionable had been found and that there had been no negative opinion.

"I reported all expenses through the regular procedure. I didn't hide anything," he said.

On February 22, the Special State Prosecutor's Office announced that they had filed an indictment against Simović.

"The indictment was filed due to the existence of reasonable suspicion that he committed the extended criminal offense of abuse of official position, which includes 16 acts of commission - it was stated in an earlier statement. The procedure was initiated because there are grounds for suspicion that the suspect, in the period from June 2017 to August 2020, unlawfully abused his official position and powers and exceeded the limits of his official powers and obtained material benefit for himself, because he, alone or with his wife and other family members or other persons close to him, stayed in the hotels 'Splendid', in Bečići, 'Bjanka', in Kolašin and others, or consumed food and drinks in the restaurants 'Porto' and 'Imanje Knjaz' in Podorica, 'Izvor' in Reževići, 'Il Brodetto' in Pržno, 'Ristorante Life', 'Tartufi & Friends', 'Le Grotte' in Rome and others, including on weekends, and paid "He submitted invoices to the treasury of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and based on them he was reimbursed for expenses in the form of cash payments, although these were obviously not expenses related to the performance of official duties," the SDT announced at the time.

Simović suspects Stijović

Responding to a question from special prosecutor Siniša Milić, the accused Simović said that he suspects former Minister of Agriculture Aleksandar Stijović of framing him.

He stated that Stijović, who took over as Minister of Agriculture after him, forged a bill of 556 euros.

"As for my suspicion regarding the amount of 556 euros, it is that someone ripped this letter, the words that it was a meeting with representatives of the World Bank, out of some other file and put it next to this bill. I can first of all suspect the former Minister of Agriculture Stijović, who came to office after me. And this is because he accused me through the media. I do not suspect anyone from the competent institutions that are related to this court proceeding," said Simović.