The proposal that the Governor of the Central Bank (CBCG) be appointed by the Assembly on the basis of a public competition instead of the President of the State, which is the existing solution, represents a transparent procedure, which was not the case until now.
This is today in the Parliament during the debate on the proposal for changes to the Law on CBCG, said Dejan Đurović, deputy of the Democratic Front and the proposer of the changes.
The Assembly will decide on the proposal later, and it is expected to be voted on by the votes of the parliamentary majority on August 30, 2020. Opposition MPs did not attend the debate.
"We witnessed that there was no such transparency, but that everything was down to one man and one party - in the hands of Milo Đukanović and the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS). Thus, the election of the governor of the CBCG has been held captive by the DPS and the outgoing president for a long time. With the new solution, the governor would be elected in a public competition in which every citizen who met the conditions of the competition can apply," said Đurović.
With the proposed solution, Đurović believes that a candidate "who, with their biographies and untainted credibility, deserves the confidence of the Assembly" will be elected.
"The question for the candidate should be what is the liquidity of the banks and whether such liquidity can affect the inflationary factor, whether there was money laundering in Montenegro and the way it was done, whether the minimum or maximum interest rate at which money is bought or sold is projected. Here today you get the lowest interest rate that exists in Europe for money invested in a bank, but that is why the interest rate when you take out a loan is much higher," said Đurović.
Đurović said that the proposed law does not violate the independence of the CBCG, but that international practice was used in the preparation of this law, citing the example of Croatia and Romania.
The proposed amendments to the law define that for the position of governor one must have ten years of work experience instead of five, as well as that the procedure for the selection of members of the CBCG Council is carried out in a public competition in the parliament and that the new Council is elected within three months from the date of entry into force of the amendments to the law.
It is also proposed that upon the entry into force of this law, the existing procedure for electing the governor ceases to be valid.
The Committee for Economy, Finance and Budget supported the previously proposed changes.
Currently in the parliamentary procedure is the proposal of former state president Milo Đukanović to re-appoint Radoje Žugić, whose mandate expired in October. Žugić is a former official of the DPS and is reputed to be close to Đukanović.
Đurović said that no one expected that after August 30, 2020, "the economic pyramid in Montenegro, headed by the CBCG, would remain intact until today".
"Djukanović's proposal is expected because there are great connections between the outgoing president and the governor, starting with the PIO Fund, the Maritime Transport, the guarantee for the loan given by the Maritime Transport to Đukanović, that the chairman of the board of Prva Banka received a loan of 44 million from the Government, of which Prva Bank returned 11 million euros to the Government in the first half hour. The prosecution has never prosecuted this, and sometimes, as in recent days, it knows how to rule when it should not. Elektroprivreda lent Prvo 10 million to the bank, four were returned, and EPCG's request to return the rest of the money, guarantees for the Abu Dhabi fund was rejected..."
He said that he believes that this is a sufficient reason why the election of Žuugić should have been stopped, but also the procedure should have been changed.
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Radulović: The proposal represents a democratic solution, Žugić must answer criminally
The MP of the Movement for Change, Branko Radulović, stated that this proposal represents a democratic solution, because all those interested who meet the criteria can apply for the public competition, who will then be interviewed through a transparent procedure.
He emphasized that Montenegro must get experts in this field.
Radulović said that the current governor, Radoje Žugić, must answer for many criminal acts "because while performing various functions, from the director of PIO, Prva banka, the minister of finance committed criminal acts".
"The Ban brothers gave a monopoly for the maritime industry for much less money, which represents a rigged transaction... Žugić is to blame for the current state of finances for the money market in Montenegro," said Radulović.
Bozena Jelušić: The Central Bank of Montenegro has not proven to be an independent institution
MP URA Božena Jelušić said that time will show how independent the "independent" institutions really were.
"Somehow I don't see the CBCG as an organization that stood out as independent, precisely because certain scandals were mentioned that shed light on the work of this institution," she said.
She drew the attention of the MPs that they must think that the Parliament has a limited mandate and that the elections will be held on June 11.
"I am not saying that this law should not be accepted at this time," she stated.
She asked Đurović with what majority in the Assembly the new governor will be elected, to which he replied that at least 41 votes of deputies are necessary.
Vučurović: We are freeing the CBCG from the influence of various power centers
Jovan Vučurović (DF) stated that the position of the governor of the CBCG is one of the most important in Montenegro.
"And as such, it was under the control of the DPS, that is, its first man, Milo Đukanović, who was the head of the CBCG. I see this proposal as a way to free this institution from the influence of various power centers, above all Đukanović and his octopus," said Vučurović.
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