28,76 million euros were paid into the state budget by companies on the basis of last year's profit, according to the conclusion of the Government, which obliged them to do so.
Information on the payment of that money was provided by the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare to the NGO Institut Alternativa (IA) in response to a request based on the Law on Free Access to Information.
In April of this year, the government adopted a conclusion obliging state-owned enterprises to pay the realized profit in 2020 "in an amount that is proportional to the share of state ownership" into the state budget by July 15, as well as the Ministry of Finance to inform the government about this .
According to available data, only eight companies paid money, namely Elektroprivreda (27,63 million), Posta Crne Gore (766,336 thousand), "Sveti Stefan hotels" (192,065 thousand), Morsko dobro (95,63 thousand), Marina-Bar (29,613 thousand), Eco Fund (25 thousand), Radio Broadcasting Center (21,085 thousand) and Regional Diving Center (3,273 thousand).
Public policy researcher at IA Marko Sosic He told "Vijesta" that they called on the Ministry of Finance to proactively publish information about which companies complied with the conclusion and how much the budget received from the companies, but they received the data only after two requests for free access to information.
"Through the review of the Government sessions, we did not find that the Ministry of Finance complied with its obligation to inform the Government about the status of this conclusion. It is wrong for the Government to lead the company's profit management policy through ad hoc conclusions, to which a significant number of companies ignore without consequences. The distribution of profits must be regulated by a systemic act, which will take into account the needs of the company to invest in capacity building and reward employees, with clear rules and limits, in addition to setting the public interest and the right of the state as the founder and owner to obtain financial benefits from the company. , assessed Sošić.
The profit of some companies is not an indicator of successful business, so much as their monopoly position, Sošić believes, should not be used as an excuse for constant increases in the number of employees, undeserved bonuses and sponsorships and donations beyond the knowledge and control of the state.
"If there are justified reasons why certain companies were not able to comply with the Government's decision on the payment of profits, then it is necessary that the public be informed about it. In the jury, there remain doubts about the selective application of this obligation, the different attitude towards companies by the Government and non-respect of the conclusions by the "reformed" boards of directors of state-owned companies", concluded Sošić.
According to IA data, 25 companies reported profits in the total amount of around 52 million euros. On that list of IAs are the coal mine (13,10 million), the Montenegrin electric transmission system (12,45 million), the Montenegrin electric distribution system (1,49 million), Vodakom (5,622 thousand), Technopolis (7,237 thousand), the Life Protection Fund middle areas (609 thousand), Barska plovidba (335), Luka Bar (660,763 million), Science and Technology Park (1,10 thousand), Monteput (2,764 thousand), Montenegrin electricity market operator (32,834 thousand), Center for ecotoxicological tests (43,049 thousand)...
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