Reckless, risky, irresponsible, money laundering - that's how the opposition councilors in the Municipal Assembly (SO) called the rebalancing of the municipality's budget today, which caused a lively discussion.
The rebalancing was adopted at today's session and with it the budget of the Municipality of Bar was increased from 45 to 64,7 million euros, which the councilors of the government were mostly satisfied with, so it was historic and record breaking for them.
With the votes of 19 members of the government and six against the votes of the opposition, the rebalance for 2024 was accepted, i.e. the Proposal for a Decision on Amendments and Supplements to the Decision on the Budget of the Municipality of Bar.
Although they voted for him, the councilors of the government also had some objections, the most severe of which were the fact that 20 million euros were allocated for social protection.
Money entered the budget based on income from utilities and interest, in accordance with the forced collection of outstanding debt for Maljevik and based on the final judgment of the Basic Court in Bar, by which the company "Sonuba Montenegro" was forced to pay that local government about 19 million and 850 thousand euros as a subsequent payment for the communal equipment of the land in Maljevik.
As "Vijesti" previously wrote, that company with Russian capital sued the Municipality of Bar for illegally collecting that money and demands that it be returned, and the judge of the Basic Court of Bar announced the verdict in that proceeding for November 20.
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Momcilo Leković (Democratic Montenegro) said that the intention of the local government is to "launder" money from Maljevik by including it in the budget, after which all traces of it will be lost, as was done with the sale of Maljevik, from which, in his words, the Đukanović family and Prva banka profited the most.
His assessment that rebalancing "launders money" provoked a sharp reaction from the President of the Municipality of Bar, Dušan Raičević, who warned him that these were harsh words and a criminal offense and that such vocabulary should not be used.
A lively discussion between Leković and Raičević followed, which resulted in a break in the session.
The members of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) demanded that Leković submit evidence for those accusations.
Raičević later apologized for his behavior and said that it was not his manner, but that he would not allow councilors and municipal officials to be called criminals.
The session was also interrupted after the Democrat councilor, Valentina Minić, warned the director of the Sports and Recreational Center "Topolica", Božidar Janković (DPS) not to throw things from the seat, after which he started shouting and she demanded his removal from the session.
In the debate on the budget, Leković pointed out that it is planned to increase funds for local roads from six to nine and a half million by the end of the year, and so far 77 thousand euros have been spent.
Among other things, they are increasing the money for lighting, he emphasized, from 600 thousand to one million euros, and so far they have allocated about five thousand euros.
He problematized the fact that there is a possibility that this money, if the court so decides, the Municipality of Bar will have to return in whole or in part, which will cause numerous problems.
"Citizens will feel the consequences of the adoption of this rebalancing next year, when the spending of these funds we are talking about will be on the agenda. New official vehicles will probably be bought, they will be spent completely inadequately and non-transparently. There are no projects anywhere, go back to what they promised you in 2022 . before the elections, and look at what you have today, you have nothing," said Leković.
Leković and Milan Nešković (Democrats) also questioned the four million euros that were planned for court costs in the rebalancing and asked whether the municipal leadership plans to continue the practice of the president, Dušan Raičević, and sue to be charged from the Municipality for annual vacations and what whatever else is possible.
Branimir Lakićević (For the future of the Bar) asked why they did not wait for the court's verdict in the Maljevik case and then do a rebalancing, because if they are in a position to have to return all or part of that money, that will invalidate this document and require a new one.
The member of the Democrats, Valentina Minic, said that the opposition provided those millions to the Municipality of Bar because their councilor club made the main contribution to the collection of those claims and warned of "harmful agreements that will one day lead someone to prison".
When it comes to donations to businesses, she said that she was always criticized when she talked about the low income of local businesses, and now it seems that they have to be given a lot of money because of low profits.
Funds for the water supply have been increased five times, she pointed out, and the councilors of the government will vote today to increase the price of water in Bar.
She pointed out that the Cabinet of the President of the Municipality doubled all the planned expenses, and praised the fact that the subventions for the passage through the Sozina tunnel were increased by 100 percent.
Drago Drobnjak from the Social Democrats (SD) club said that he believes that the funds are well distributed, especially in the part of the capital budget, debt repayment and current expenses.
Jelena Dabović (SD) emphasized that for individuals, organizations and plans, who need help in the field of social protection or deal with it, zero euros out of 20 million have been allocated, which she assessed as unacceptable.
"I was informed by the competent committee that there were no such initiatives, which is reasonable, but I cannot accept the fact that we ourselves do not recognize the significance and importance of these issues, and we witness rising prices and increasing poverty every day," she said.
She noted that the funds were not allocated even for municipal projects, that is, the implementation of the Local Action Plan for social and child protection and improvement of social inclusion. She asked how it would be decided which children would receive subsidies and in what way, because while some children received more subsidies while others did not receive any, and they needed it, she asked why the competent secretariat did not initiate this initiative on its own if others did not.
Emir Peričić (DPS) said that the funds they are discussing are a "historic amount in the Municipality of Bar" and that they will hardly ever have the opportunity to have this much funds in the budget. He also referred to the opinion of the Ministry of Finance, which says that there are no objections to this decision on rebalancing.
He called "encouraging" the amounts planned to be allocated in the part of the capital budget, which amounts to slightly more than 34 million euros. As the most significant, among other things, he pointed out the expenditures for ongoing maintenance of public infrastructure, construction facilities and equipment, which were increased by almost 400 thousand euros.
Radomir Novaković (Biram Bar) said that he thinks that this budget rebalancing is being done late, since the money from Maljevik "laid down" at the end of January, and now it is the end of October, and when all the legal procedures have passed, there will be about 45 days left for this money to be used until the end of the year.
He asked what is the big project currently being managed by the Municipality of Bar that is not the Olympic swimming pool and criticized the same data on planned and realized costs in the capital budget as councilor Leković.
Raičević: Historical budget of the Municipality of Bar
The first man of the municipality of Bar, Raičević, said that it is a fact that after the adoption of the budget rebalance, he will talk about the largest budget of the Municipality of Bar in the previous 20 years.
He answered the questions of the councilors and said that the court case with the company "Sonuba" was actualized last October when the Municipality started the forced collection process and that the rebalancing could not wait until November 20 because it would be too late depending on the judgment of the Basic Court.
He replied to Peričić that the road from the hospital in Bar to the settlement of Sveti Ivan is in the plan as an alternative to the Adriatic highway, and that after preparing the study, he will determine the occupation of state property by private individuals.
"Not a single cent of the money that we received from Maljevik has been spent inappropriately nor will it be. It must be predominantly directed towards the DUP Sutomore centar and the DUP Maljevik where it is necessary to realize the projects of building communal infrastructure and the remaining 10 million received through this judgment are funds that belong to the current budget," he emphasized.
According to Raičević, they will not spend ten million euros until the end of the year for current expenses, and if they are transferred to the budget for the next year, 2025, those millions will go from the current budget to the capital budget and can be used for capital projects.
When it comes to firewood for socially vulnerable families who use the public kitchen, Raičević replied that he was familiar with that request from the public hearing, but that it was only an indication that uniform records were necessary, because he was sure that in the register of the Center for Social Work there are certainly those who need firewood and are not users of "Zena Bar" services.
He said, he will consider increasing funds with such a goal in the budget for the next year.
More money for local businesses, scholarships, subsidies for Sozina and "Mornar"
The draft Decision on Amendments to the Decision on the Budget of the Municipality of Bar was presented by the Secretary for Finance Ivana Backović and the Secretary for Property and Investments Stefan Šušter, who also answered the questions of the councilors.
Backović, responding to the councilors, said that the legal procedure for rebalancing is the same as for the adoption of the budget, so the secretariat headed by her addressed all spending units to submit opinions and express the need for corrections, which they did.
"Administrative material has been increased by seven thousand euros, the increase has been registered with the Service for Communal Supervision, Municipal Police, for the procurement of work clothes. As for the funds for the representation, they have been increased by 500 euros, and the increase refers to the service of the chief city architect" , said Backović.
Answering the questions, Šušter said that nine million of the verdict for Maljevik will be invested in that locality and Sutomore, and the rest, i.e. the interest, will be allocated to the current budget.
Svetlana Gažević, Secretary for Local Self-Government, answered the questions of the councilors of the Civic Movement URA and SD on questions from the domain of social protection and said that in the first year, after the competition for child subsidies was announced, 992 applications were received, so they were able to they respect each and despite the increase in the amount for subsidies, this year they could not do it because 550 more requests came in compared to last year.
There is a scoring system, she stressed, and there is a possibility that this year more families who live in greater social vulnerability than those who exercised that right last year applied, so they did not meet the requirements, that is, they did not have enough points.
They could not include an increase in these subsidies in the rebalancing, she emphasized, because one competition is announced per year, which has been completed for the current year and will not be repeated until next year.
They noted that the main reason for rebalancing the budget is the realization of income based on income from utilities and interest, in accordance with the forced collection of unpaid debt for Maljevik and based on the final judgment of the Basic Court in Bar, by which the company "Sonuba" was forced to pay the local administration approx. 19 million and 850 thousand euros as a subsequent payment for the equipment of the land in Maljevik.
Backović once again reiterated that it is the intention of the Municipality of Bar to invest most of the additional income funds in development and infrastructure projects, but to set aside funds for the payment of due debts from an earlier period as well as for subsidies to local communities, individuals, cultural and sports organizations.
With the rebalancing, the total receipts are planned at around 64 million euros, which is around 43 percent more than planned. Expenditures are in line with receipts, so they amount to about 64 million, and as Backović said, the largest part is intended for capital projects.
The scholarships provided by the Municipality of Bar have been increased by 150 percent due to the rebalancing, so this year Bar students will have the opportunity to apply for increased amounts of scholarships, which will amount to, depending on the average grade, 200, 250 and 300 euros each.
Funds have been increased for transfers in education and for the improvement of sports and sports activities, as well as for the support and financing of companies founded by the Municipality of Bar.
By rebalancing the budget, among other things, subsidies for passing through the Sozina tunnel for residents of Crmnica, Šestan and surrounding villages were increased by 100 percent. Funds for the maintenance of public goods and facilities have been increased by almost 80 percent.
Funding for the Rebalas Cultural Center will increase by 78, Radio Bar by 15, House of Olives by 25, Water and Utilities by 600, Hunting by 15 and Sports and Recreational Center by 34.
They allocated 100 more each for the sports and basketball club "Mornar" and 130 more for other sports activities.
Stefan Šušter, secretary of the Secretariat for Property and Investments, speaking about the rebalancing of the capital budget, said that receipts by the end of this year are planned in the amount of 31 million 850 thousand euros, which is 850 million and XNUMX thousand euros more than planned.
Income based on communal equipment of the land will be higher by a little less than 135 percent, eight million more compared to the capital budget plan for this year. He said that the expenses have increased due to the construction of the local road network, which is the contractual obligation of the Municipality towards investors who build infrastructure projects in Bar.
Backović concluded that the report from the public hearing, after its preparation, will be published on the website of the Municipality of Bar, and that they, together with other competent secretariats, will assess which of the received proposals can be included in the budget rebalancing.
The session was attended by the directors of all municipal companies, services and institutions founded by the Municipality of Bar, and councilors said on several occasions that the presidents of the Assembly and the Municipality stressed to them that attendance was mandatory.
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