ASP: The Ministry of Transport paid for a special Highway Unit for 11 years, it cost over 750 thousand euros

The Ministry of Transport has been paying a special Unit for the Implementation of the Bar-Boljare Highway Project for 11 years, which was mainly made up of its employees, which cost a total of over 750 thousand euros by February, the Action for Social Justice (ASP) announced.

The NGO said that there were no clear criteria for appointing members, and that the arrival of each new minister in that department usually meant a change in some of the Unit's members.

"The unit was formed in April 2015, based on the conclusion of the then majority government of the Democratic Party of Socialists, by a decision of the Minister of Transport and Maritime Affairs, Ivan Brajović, and is directly responsible to the minister for its work," the statement said.

ASP recalled that its members at the time included Dušan Kokić from the Traffic Administration, civil engineer Snežana Jovićević, traffic engineer Miroslav Mašić, and economist Ljubinka Ivanović. Mašić and Ivanović are employees of the Ministry of Transport.

The explanation of the decision to establish the Unit states that the highway is the largest infrastructure project in the country, and that the Unit is responsible for coordinating activities between the contractor, the Chinese company China Road and Bridge Corporation, the supervisory body, the Italian-French consortium, and the project manager, Monteputa, controlling deadlines, monitoring the quality control and scope of the work performed, and informing the investor, the Government.

"Under the blanket explanation that 'in the meantime it is necessary to appoint new members', Ivan Brajović expanded the Unit in May 2015 with engineer Snežana Perović, in July of the same year with Tatjana Dulović, who is listed as a specialist in accounting and auditing, and in February 2016 with lawyer Maja Mijušković," the statement states.

According to media reports, Dulović, as an employee of the Ministry of Transport, received a favorable housing loan of ten thousand euros in 2016, and Mašić also received the same amount. In March of this year, a person named Maja Mijušković was appointed acting secretary of the Ministry of Transport.

"In 2015, members of the Highway Project Implementation Unit were paid EUR 50 thousand, a year later EUR 76 thousand, in 2017 EUR 77,6 thousand, and in 2018 EUR 83,8 thousand. In 2019 EUR 77 thousand was paid, and in 2020 EUR 83,1 thousand," the ASP specified.

At the end of 2020, and after the expert government was formed, the then Minister of Capital Investments Mladen Bojanić issued a new decision on the formation of the same Unit, appointing Miroslav Mašić, Ljubinka Ivanović, lawyer Vladimir Raković, Snežana Jovićević, and Snežana Perović.

"The decision was supposed to be in force until the end of June next year, and the explanation states as the legal basis the article of the Regulation on the Organization and Method of Work of the State Administration that the Minister may form a project group, team or other forms of work, and that the Unit is formed with the aim of more efficient work, operability, rationality and institutional and personnel strengthening," the ASP statement states.

In March 2021, another economist, Mirjana Martinović, and management specialist Zahida Duraković were appointed as members of the Unit, citing the "necessity of ensuring the timely realization of due financial obligations and the best protection of investors."

"The arrival of Ervin Ibrahimović as Minister of Capital Investments in May 2022 meant that at the end of the following month, Mirsad Ibrahimović would be appointed as a new member of the Unit as a lawyer, with the additional explanation that the trial period of the highway is in effect and that all contractual procedures need to be completed in a timely manner, while in October of the same year, economist Emina Husović would be appointed instead of Zahida Duraković," the statement added.

The ASP said that since the beginning of last year, the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs has been headed by a new minister, Filip Radulović, who in January appointed Andrija Ražnatović as a lawyer instead of Mirsad Ibrahimović. A month later, Nikola Veljović and Ana Vuković were appointed instead of Ljubinka Ivanović, Vladimir Raković and Mirjana Martinović, and in March, Dalibor Milošević was appointed, who the media reports is the beneficiary of a ten thousand EUR housing loan from 2016. In May, Marijana Perić was appointed instead of Nikola Veljović, and in early July, Ernesa Kardović was appointed instead of Emina Husović.

At the end of July last year, Radulović was already the Minister of Maritime Affairs after the government was reshuffled, and Maja Vukićević was the Minister of Transport, who issued a decision to form a Unit with Miroslav Mašić as its head and his work was unpaid, Snežana Jovićević as a member with a monthly salary of 1,5 thousand and Snežana Perović with a monthly salary of 1,3 thousand. This decision is in effect until February this year.

The unit was paid EUR 2021 thousand in 73,2, a total of EUR 2022 thousand in 79,2, EUR 84 thousand a year later, EUR 63,7 thousand last year, and EUR 5,6 thousand this year.

"A foreign consultant, as a supervisory authority, was paid over EUR 24 million on the highway project, there were two state commissions (one for the revision of technical documentation, and the other for the technical inspection of works), which were paid over six million, the state-owned company Monteput formed a separate Business Unit, whose exclusive work is related to the highway," the statement said.

In May last year, the ASP sent an initiative to the Budget Inspection to determine the legality of payments to this Unit, but apart from a brief notification that they would act on the initiative within their plans, there has been no response from this inspection regarding what they determined.