The Prosecutor's Office to determine who stole the pictures from the Institute

In the lists of inventory and property of the Employment Agency from 2012 to 2022, there is no valuable work of art - a painting by one of the most famous Montenegrin painters Aleksandar Ac Prijić, while census lists older than 2012 were destroyed.

This was officially announced by the Institute Đorđije Bojanić, the son of the former director of the Institute Branimir Bojanić in whose office, until his death in 2008, there was Prijić's picture, which later disappeared from the office and census lists.

Bojanić told "Vijesta" that Prijić was his father's uncle, that the search for the painting has now become a family matter. He also announced that due to her disappearance, as well as the relationship of the former managers and officials responsible for the inventory list towards the cultural heritage of Montenegro, he will submit a criminal complaint to the prosecutor's office.

The new Management Board of the Employment Agency, following information about the potential disappearance of valuable works of art that were in its possession, adopted a decision in July requesting information from its services on all works of art in the premises of the Agency and its offices throughout Montenegro, due to suspicions that are some of the valuable works of art stolen in recent years.

The request to form a commission to investigate the possible disappearance of works of art was initiated by the President of the Board of Directors Dejan Vojvodic, after learning that Prijić's painting had disappeared.

"Prijić gave the painting to my father, and he left it to the Institute and it was in his office until his death in 2008. This was confirmed by senior employees of the Institute. Then the cabinet was reconstructed and the picture was removed from the wall, and as I have now received an official answer from the Public Procurement Service of the Institute, which also deals with inventory and inventory, it is not in the current census lists, while those from before 2012 were destroyed due to alleged obligations to be kept for only ten years", said Bojanic, who is himself an employee of the Institute.

The goal is to make the thief's theft not worth it

He states that artistic paintings by recognized authors have artistic as well as material value and that they had to be listed. He also said that Prijić's painting also has family significance for him.

"After consulting with lawyers, I will submit a criminal complaint to the prosecutor's office against an unknown perpetrator due to the disappearance of the painting, in order to determine how it disappeared and which one he stole. The goal of my public appearance and criminal complaint is to make sense of the theft of this work of art so that no one can sell it and publicly point it out. All gallerists and the professional public will be informed about this in order to prevent further circulation of the painting, but also to prevent similar events," Bojanić said.

If the picture is found or "simply appears", as he said, he will not ask for it to be returned to the family, because this is not done for material gain.

"If it is found, the picture will remain with the Institute. I am planning to present the monograph of Prijić's paintings as well as the History of Art of Montenegro to the service that deals with the census, or should have dealt with it, so that all the paintings and works of art in the Institute would be properly listed with all the details and so that the works of art would be taken care of as they deserve", said Bojanic.

It is difficult to determine what all has disappeared

The institute owns dozens of valuable paintings and other works that it has bought or received from some of the most famous Montenegrin artists over the decades. However, new data from the Institute - that works of art have not been inventoried since 2012, and that older inventory data have been destroyed, show that it will be difficult to determine what valuable works of art were in this institution and when and how they disappeared.

"Vijesti" announced at the beginning of September this year that these works of art had not been cataloged or taken care of for years. During the reconstruction of the spaces where they were exhibited, the works of art were removed, and many of them were not returned to their place after that, nor are they in storage.

At that time, it was suspected that the painting of one of the most famous Montenegrin painters, Aleksandar Ac Prijić, had disappeared, which was on the wall in the office of the general director of the Institute until 15 years ago.

Jelić claimed that it is an omission if they are not in the list

The valuable painting was last found in the cabinet of director Branimir Bojanić and was there until his death in January 2008. After that, everything from the cabinet was taken out and it was reconstructed, but Prijić's painting was never seen again. He replaced Bojanić as executive director Zoran Jelic.

In September, Jelić told "Vijesta" that he did not remember that picture and that it was certainly not in the cabinet when he took office. He also said that this is the first time he has heard that some works of art have disappeared from the Institute.

“I don't remember that picture. Census commissions should regularly list all assets of the Institute, including inventory, including art paintings, regardless of whether the Institute bought them or they were donated to it. Those census commissions were paid for that work, and if there is no report or they didn't list something, it's their fault," Jelić said at the time.

Son of Aco Prijić, also an artist Đuro Beli Prijić, he told "Vijesti" in September that he only knew that his father's picture was in the Institute, but that he did not remember which picture it was.

"I wouldn't even be able to estimate what its value would be now. I was also contacted by the Employment Office with the information that the picture has disappeared, but I don't know anything more than that," said Prijić at the time.

He recently warned the public about the appearance of forged pictures of his father, which speaks of the value and importance of his part.

Aleksandar Aco Prijić received the highest state recognition of Montenegro twice - the Thirteenth of July Award, in 1961 and 1965, and in 1985 he was elected a member of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CABU). In 1973, he received one of the highest honors of the former Yugoslavia - the AVNOJ award. In CAN, he was vice president, then president of the fine arts department. He died in Nikšić on February 5, 1986.

Air conditioners bought and registered, but they are not there

After the officers of the Institute were given an order to check all inventory lists and property, according to "Vijesti" information, other unusual things were discovered - that in the inventory there is equipment that the Institute bought, but in reality it is not there.

For example, "Mitsubishi" air conditioners have been listed for years in the premises of the Institute in Cetinje, which were bought with the money of that state institution, but which were never installed in those premises.

The Institute is now investigating the suspicion that these air conditioners ended up in the apartment of one of the former officials of that institution.