Who will sit in the chair of the head of a key department of the Municipality of Budva, the Secretariat for Investments, will be known in the next ten days, only when the municipal commission is formed, and the Ministry of Justice has previously declared whether any of the three candidates has been criminally prosecuted.
As "Vijesti" has learned, the position in the Secretariat for Investments has caught the eye, next to the current Acting Secretary for Investments. Mase Radovic and former Secretary of Investment Joko Popović, also Đorđe Zenović, former Assistant Secretary for Property Protection of the Municipality of Budva.
The Secretariat for Investments has a budget of almost 25 million euros, which is more than a third of the city's coffers, and manages capital projects, as well as the development of the city through the implementation of investment programs.
It will be interesting to see who will get permanent employment, or a five-year mandate to head investments, after the commission is formed to review the candidacies.
The promise of the first man of Budva Nikola Jovanović When he took office in early February, his priority was to professionalize local administration, municipal enterprises and institutions, and to finally abolish the current practice of hiring based on political affiliation.
As things stand now, it is uncertain who will sit in the hot seat of Secretary of Investments, because all three candidates meet the requirements.
The current acting secretary for investments, Maša Radović, was appointed by Jovanović in mid-May and has been his key associate since then. It is certainly a priority for Jovanović, as for every previous first man in the city, that the position of secretary for investments is filled by a person he can trust, which Radović certainly is. The current city administration received its mandate thanks to the so-called project support of the former opposition Democratic Party of Socialists, so it is in Jovanović's interest to implement the projects he promised.
Popović's candidacy could throw a wrench in the works. Popović, who was one of Jovanović's key political players during the two election processes in 2024, broke away from the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) and supported the current informally led by the detained Milo Božović. He was a councilor candidate on the list "Budva is our city". However, after the new city government was constituted, he parted ways with his party comrades.
Although it was never publicly disclosed that there was a rift with Jovanović, Popović was first left without the position of Secretary for Investments, and then, although he applied for the position of Director of the Municipal Company and the Mediterranean Sports Center, he was not elected. Popović managed investments during the time when the city was governed by Carević and Božović.
Also interesting is the candidacy of Đorđe Zenović, the leader of the citizens' group "Movement for the City", which has two councilor mandates in the local parliament. Zenović was the assistant secretary for property protection of the Municipality of Budva for five years, of which two and a half years, after the secretary's departure, he managed this municipal department himself, while the city was governed first by Carević and then by Milo Božović, achieving excellent results, namely winning millions of court cases that were conducted against the Municipality of Budva.
V. d. situation over the years in the Municipality
The entire municipal administration has been practically in an acting state for two and a half years, as all secretaries and mayors are acting. The chief administrator Nevenka Božović Jovović and the chief city architect Jelena Lazić were elected through a competition.
Other positions in the administration are acting, and for the last one, Jovanović appointed Mirjana Medenica as acting secretary for urban planning and sustainable development, as reported by "Vijesti".
The acting manager of the city of Budva is Marijana Božović, Jovanović had previously appointed Miško Konić (GP URA staff) as acting secretary for economy, previously Goran Radević had been appointed as acting secretary for social activities, and he had subsequently entrusted the management of the Secretariat for Communal and Housing Affairs to Desi Vlačić, who was appointed as acting secretary. Jovanović had appointed Slavko Đukanović from the European Union as acting secretary for finance, while Darko Čelebić was the acting secretary for local self-government, and Vlado Ivanović was the acting secretary for property protection.
The Government Commission decides on the outcome again
The Government's Appeals Commission will once again, for the third time in the past year and a half since the announcement of the position of Assistant Secretary of the Secretariat for Property Protection of the Municipality of Budva, decide on the outcome.
The request, which was seen by "Vijesti", for the Commission to intervene again was made by one of the candidates, Blanka Đurašević. She challenged the decision of the Acting Secretary for Property Protection Vlado Ivanović not to select either of the two candidates who applied. Blanka Đurašević and Đorđe Zenović submitted their candidacies in April last year.
"When making the decision, the Acting Secretary skipped a mandatory element in the implementation of the competition, which relates to conducting an oral interview," the complaint states.
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