The Board of Directors of the Deposit Protection Fund plans to interview all five candidates who applied for the position of Executive Director, and the final decision on the selection of the new head of the Fund is expected during this working week.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors told this to "Vijesti" Borko Božović without specifying who the registered candidates are.
The vacancy for the director of the Fund was announced on the website of the Employment Agency on August 15, based on the decision of the Administrative Property of July 21 this year. Applications could be submitted until September 1. A person who is a citizen of Montenegro, who possesses general working ability, has a VII1 level of educational qualification and at least five years of work experience in the financial sector may be appointed as the director of the Fund.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", the current director applied for the competition. Vojin Vlahović, advisor in the office of the President of Budva Mladen Bojanic i Asmir Pepić who is the logistics advisor to the Chief of General Staff, as well as Andrija Radunovic i Vesko Ivanovic which come from the banking sector.
There are several options in play regarding the final selection of the director, and according to unofficial information from "Vijesti", that name could allegedly be obtained by "trading" positions, or rather, by the principle - you vote for me in this case, and I'll vote for you in the other. Specifically, according to this source, there is an option in play for some of the members of the Board of Directors to support one candidate, and for a party close to that candidate to support appointments in another institution.
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Bojanić officially told "Vijesti" that there was an attempt to declare two applications invalid by the secretary of the FZD, but that the Board of Directors requested that the documentation be supplemented, which he did.
"Also, I was informed by the FZD secretary that it was not planned for the Board of Directors to interview the candidates (to get to know the candidates, their motivations for running, FZD development plans..), after which I wrote to the Board of Directors to think about such a decision because I believe that everyone's goal is to select the best candidate and that this can hardly be valid if the Board of Directors is not able to get to know the candidates. I would especially like to emphasize that the Board of Directors is legally obliged to take care of the fulfillment of one of the key requirements for the director from Article 28 of the Deposit Protection Law, which is that the director must have at least five years of work experience in the financial sector," said Bojanić, reminding that this was defined through amendments to the law from 2019.
Božović did not directly answer the question of "Vijesti" whether it was true that the secretary of the FZD proposed not to consider the candidacies of two candidates because they did not meet the requirements, that is, they did not submit valid references about the required work experience.
"The board of directors is legally obliged to ensure that one of the key requirements for a director from Article 28 of the Deposit Protection Law is met, which is that the director must have at least five years of work experience in the financial sector," said Bojanić.
He said that "journalistic interest is completely justified, but in communication we must take into account the interests of all candidates and the interests of the Fund as a whole."
"In this sense, in terms of transparency, we are guided by legal and other legal requirements, and beyond that, we make decisions depending on the assessment of all circumstances, including the potential legal and reputational risks that each decision could pose for this process. For example, our position is that the Board of Directors does not announce the names of candidates, for some of the reasons mentioned above, but this does not prevent any candidate from publicly announcing that they have run, if they wish. In doing so, we should also keep in mind the specific position, role and structure of the Board of Directors, which is composed of five members who are not employees of the Fund. In general, we need to have more patience to complete this process, considering all its aspects, and the public will have more timely information as justified and optimal conditions are created for this," said Božović.
The Fund's Board of Directors currently includes Borko Božović (President of the Board of Directors and Director of the Directorate for Financial Stability and Payment Systems Supervision at the Central Bank of Montenegro) and members Nina Drakić (President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Montenegro), Ivana Jolicic (Head of the Regulatory Directorate of the Control Sector at the Central Bank of Montenegro), Mihailo Pejović (Head of the Directorate for Budget Execution and Accounting in the Ministry of Finance) and on behalf of the UBCG Darko Radunović (Minister of Finance in the Government of the Prime Minister) Duško Marković).
This Board of Directors was elected on February 5, 2024.
Vojin Vlahović, a former advisor to former President Milo Đukanović, was elected director of the Deposit Protection Fund (DPF) in the fall of 2021. His predecessor Predrag Markovic has held this position since 2010, and after he reached the legal retirement age, a vacancy for a new director was announced on August 25, 2021.
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