The recent report of the State Audit Institution (DRI) on the implementation of the recommendations given to the Municipality of Ulcinj after the 2018 business audit indicates the continuity of irregularities and concealment of financial deficiencies, and this chaotic situation can quickly lead the Municipality to collapse. Nazif Cungu opposition forces.
Through a control audit, the SAI determined that of the 24 recommendations given in the Report on the audit of the final account of the Ulcinj Municipality's budget for 2018, seven were implemented, eleven were not, four were partially implemented, while two recommendations are in the implementation phase.
It was determined that there are still significant deficiencies in budget planning, taking measures to enforce collection against unruly taxpayers, records and collection of compensation from illegally erected buildings, application of the law on salaries of employees in the public sector, civil servants and state employees and on work in employment, and application of the law on state property in the register of state property and application of the law on public procurement.
The SAI submitted this report to the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office (SSP).
For financial expert and official Skender Elezagić, the news that the Municipality of Ulcinj receives negative evaluations and significant remarks during the control and audit of the final accounts of the budget has become common "that it no longer arouses any major interest".
"This has been happening for years and shows that the money of all the citizens of Ulcinj is continuously being managed by people who have common characteristics, ignorance, irresponsibility, wastefulness, and quite possibly a tendency to abuse the trust and authority that they have fallen in love with," said Elezagić.
He pointed out that the control audit showed that the people responsible for the implementation of the budget, despite the indication and the deadline, did not remove the irregularities, and that the fact that they did not submit a statement on the preliminary report shows what kind of negligence it is.
Cungu reminded that Forca continuously pointed out the bad situation in the previous period and that the former coalition partners led by DPS did not want to approach changes, which is why they left the coalition.
"Even then, we pointed out that the holding of early local elections was inevitable, which was not accepted by the ruling majority. Every day of delay in the change of the local government will further complicate the already difficult situation," Cungu assessed.
Growth of unpaid receivables
The control audit of the SAI determined that at the end of 2020, unpaid claims based on local revenues amounted to EUR 14,58 million, and at the beginning of the year they were EUR 12,53 million, the debt amounted to EUR 3,63 million, and was collected in 1,58 million euros that year. In this way, the amount of unpaid claims increased by 2,05 million. The largest amount of unpaid claims, the SAI determined, refers to real estate tax, in the amount of 12,4 million euros.
Cungu stated that the SAI report stated that the 2020 rebalance reduced the total receipts from the originally planned 14 million euros to 9,28 million, and that the budget was not realized for that amount but for 8,9 million euros, which is 390.000 less than planned.
"The rebalance was adopted on the eve of the New Year, and the difference of 390.000 euros is too large for this kind of implementation. The control audit determined that the Municipality did not plan the budget for 2021, on a realistic basis. The method of employment and the non-fulfillment of the conditions of non-professional management staff are particularly noteworthy, which will further complicate the overall situation due to ignorance of the administration's affairs and continued violations of the law. These are just some of the numerous data that confirm the auditor's report. The negative trends will come to the fore by the end of this year, and especially during the next year," Cungu assessed.
Elezagić said that the responsibility for such a situation is not only on those who are directly in charge of the budget.
"They are enabled by this kind of behavior, first of all, by almost 30 members of the parliamentary majority, whose duty it is to control the work of the executive branch. The consequence of this kind of behavior is, quite expectedly, that the money of all citizens is spent on anything and everything, least of all on what which are intended - to meet common needs," stated Elezagić.
Inappropriate spending of money for communal equipment of the land
Elezagić reminded that every year, by rebalancing the budget, as a rule, on the last day of the year, by raising the hands of obedient councilors, a stamp is put on what was done during the year.
"All budget revenues are directed to current consumption, and "capital investments" are reduced to 200-300 thousand euros, mainly for pre-election asphalting and replacement of light bulbs," said Elezagić, who is also a high-ranking SDP official.
He reminded that for the last six years, the Municipality has been earning about one million euros from the fee for communal equipment of urban construction land, which is a dedicated income that is allocated to a special account and can be used exclusively for communal equipment of the land in the zone for which it was charged.
"Large settlements have sprung up in Ulcinj, with legally built buildings, whose investors have paid all the fees, but they still don't even have basic infrastructure, because the money collected for that purpose is illegally channeled into current consumption. It is a question of the day when the owners of these facilities, many of which are also intended for tourist rental, start to initiate disputes for misuse of money and demand compensation for damages due to the impossibility of using their facilities in full," said Elezagić.
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