The state is waiting for another 10,5 million in party loans from 2005.

The Employment Service has not yet collected 10,5 million euros worth of self-employment loans that were approved between 1999 and 2005. The two banks through which most of these loans were approved at the time, Prva and CKB, terminated their contracts with the Service last year and this year, which is why the Service will continue to try to collect these loans by engaging lawyers and its own employees.

This was announced by the Institute in response to questions from "Vijesti" about how much these unpaid loans now amount to and how the Institute is trying to collect this money that was then approved and paid out from the state budget.

The fact that these loans are not being collected at all was revealed in March 2023 by the then President of the Board of Directors of the Institute. Dejan Vojvodic, after which the board adopted a conclusion to initiate proceedings for the forced collection of these claims, which at that time amounted to 12 million euros.

According to the self-employment lending program from 1999 and 2005, a total of 48 million euros of state money was spent for these purposes through the Institute and commission banks. These favorable loans were provided with symbolic interest, so that the total amount to be repaid was 54 million euros. The loans were then disbursed through commercial banks with which the Institute had commission agreements on collection mediation.

The beneficiaries of these favorable loans were supposed to transfer to the Institute, by way of fiduciary - pledge, the right to a real estate of greater value than the issued loan. However, although some paid only one installment, forced collection against about a thousand beneficiaries, among whom there are many well-known members and activists of former ruling parties, was never initiated by either the Institute's management or the commission banks until 2023. During that period, six directors and several presidents and members of the Institute's management boards changed.

Vojvodić then stated that there were several examples of beneficiaries receiving 15 thousand euros each, only to return the first installment of about a hundred euros and stop paying, without anyone forcing them to return it or initiating forced collection. He also told "Vijesti" at the time that there was a possibility that these loans were used for political, or party, needs.

"The practice of false promises that loans will be forgiven or canceled, in return for giving political votes, is being stopped. These days, we have had various complaints from citizens that they were 'promised' by some political entities that loans have been written off, canceled, and that they will not be repaid. Self-employment loans must be returned to the state treasury," Vojvodić told "Vijesti" in December 2023, when the Institute initiated over a thousand forced collection procedures.

However, in April of the following year, Vojvodić was dismissed and a new board of directors was appointed by the new parliamentary majority.

The Institute told "Vijesti" that since the beginning of the program, in 1999, a total of 43.812.244,72 euros have been collected, while outstanding unpaid claims from loans approved for self-employment now amount to 10.534.990 euros.

"In the period following the adoption of the Conclusion of the Board of Directors in April 2023, forced collection was carried out in several cases, while in a certain number of cases an agreement was reached on an alternative method of settling obligations. Since the beginning of 2023, a total of 1.419.254,64 euros have been collected. The debtors with whom the Institute concluded the Agreement have fully settled their obligations within the deadline stipulated therein," the Institute told "Vijesti".

The Institute's management, when the director was Goran Folić, unilaterally terminated the Commission Loan Placement Agreement with Prva Banka in November 2021, which also related to the collection of these loans approved through that bank. In March 2022, a new Agreement on the Regulation of Rights and Obligations was signed with this bank.

"Since the aforementioned Agreement did not define the bank's obligations in detail, the Institute concluded a new Business Cooperation Agreement with Prva Banka on 1 March 3 with clearly defined rights and obligations of both contracting parties. This Agreement was in force until 2023 August 26, when the bank submitted a notice of termination with the obligation to fulfill obligations by the expiry of the 8-day notice period. During the aforementioned period, a total of 2024 euros in loans from the self-employment program were collected through Prva Banka," the Institute stated.

Part of the loans were then approved through banks that no longer exist.

"Forced collection procedures have been initiated in all cases placed through the former Development Bank and Montenegro Bank. Due and unpaid claims amount to 866.758,29 euros - loans placed (through the former Development Bank) and 537.728,56 euros (loans placed through the former Montenegro Bank)," the Institute stated.

CKB no longer wants to cooperate with the Institute, its clients' debts have been taken over by a lawyer

The Institute's cooperation with CKB on the collection of these loans has been terminated.

"After the expiration of the Out-of-Court Settlement Agreement, the Institute repeatedly tried to continue cooperation with CKB Bank. However, the bank was not interested in continuing cooperation, but rather, as the best solution, proposed concluding a contractual relationship with a law firm. In order to collect the loan through CKB Bank, the Institute concluded an Agreement with a law firm from Podgorica in September 2024 for the further collection of due but unpaid loan claims. As of today, the debt on this basis (the amount of these unpaid loans approved through CKB) amounts to 4.537.966,73 euros," the Institute stated.