The Municipality of Kotor is currently in a complete financial blockade, all payments from the budget have been stopped since January 1st and employees will not receive their January salaries on time.
The leader of the coalition list of the Democrats and the Europe Now Movement (PES) told "Vijesti" this. Vladimir Jokic who was the mayor until the elections in that city last year.
Local elections were held in Kotor on September 29th last year, but due to complaints regarding two polling stations, the final results have not yet been announced, the new government has not been established, and the budget for this year has not been adopted, nor has a decision on temporary financing been made.
On October 11th of last year, Jokić filed two complaints with the Constitutional Court due to the stalemate that existed in the Kotor election commission.
However, on October 24, the Constitutional Court did not make a decision on Jokić's appeals, as the result of the vote was 3:3. The Constitutional Court clarified in a statement that three judges took the position that they have the authority to examine the election dispute in essence, while three of them considered that the election procedure is strictly formal and that they should only examine procedural irregularities in the work of the competent election commission.
At the end of October last year, Jokić pulled the constitutional trigger to end the election process.
The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) also appealed to the Constitutional Court in November last year against the decision of the State Election Commission (SEC) to reject their complaint regarding the elections at two polling stations in Kotor. The Constitutional Court has not yet ruled on this.
"The Municipality of Kotor is currently in a complete financial blockade, which is caused by a political and institutional blockade. Neither the decision on temporary financing nor the decision on the municipal budget has been adopted, and therefore, as of 1 January, not a single euro can be paid from the municipal account. The fact that since 1 October the municipality has not had a president has led to the fact that there is no legally authorized proposer of these decisions. The consequences are more than serious and worrying. Namely, every day of this situation costs the municipality certain interest and means of forced execution. In addition, the most valuable resource, which is time, is irretrievably lost. Preparation for the season, adoption of investment plans, delays in everything will have long-term consequences. The fates of people who live on their salaries will be endangered, many of them are in debt, they depend only on the payment of salaries. The situation will soon become alarming," Jokić pointed out.
A solution on the political terrain
According to him, the current situation is such that the only solution is on the political field.
"Since the current blockage arose in the decision-making process before the Constitutional Court on the DPS appeal, there is a solution: either to elect a new judge of the Constitutional Court and make a final decision on the appeal, which DPS is obstructing in the State Assembly, or for DPS to withdraw the constitutional appeal, which I did in an identical situation, and which they do not want to do. Their behavior is only confirmation of what their president announced." Danijel Zivkovic, that they will create institutional chaos in every municipality, and Kotor is the most drastic example. Their behavior boils down to the rule - they can only do as they please and no other way. When they block the Municipal Election Commission and the State Election Commission decides in their favor, then that is correct, and when the institutions are unblocked and decide on the merits, then blockages arise. Since the problem arose in the field of politics, there will also be a solution in the field of politics," Jokić emphasized.
He stated that the employees of the Municipality were paid their December salaries at the end of December, in order to at least prevent the situation that has now arisen.
"January's salary will certainly be delayed, as will all other payments, until a decision is made on temporary financing or a budget decision. Currently, the municipality's accounts have around 3,5 million euros, of which around 1,5 million are operational, i.e. not earmarked funds," said Jokić.
According to preliminary results of the elections held on September 29, DPS and the PES-Democrats coalition won ten seats each, the "For the Future of Kotor" alliance, Grbljanska Lista and Democratic Alternative three each, the European Alliance two, and the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) and the Kotor Movement one seat each.
The Kotor Parliament has 33 council seats, which means that at least 17 votes are needed to form a government.
Record budget of 44 million and no debts
The budget for 2024 amounted to just over 44 million euros, while the draft budget for 2025 has not yet been officially drafted, says Jokić, for well-known reasons.
"When I took over the management of the city in 2017, the Municipality's budget was 19 million euros. I was dismissed in June 2019, and left 5,5 million euros in the accounts and zero euros in debt. It took DPS a year and two months to get from that figure to the point where when I took over the management again in October 2020, I found 300 thousand euros and three million in debt in the accounts. After four years, Kotor has the largest budget in history, a capital budget realization of over 90%, no debts and unallocated amounts in the accounts amounting to millions. These facts speak best about the economic and financial side of the management of the city," Jokić pointed out.
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