The Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) has forecast a total of 10.914.700 euros for gross salaries of employees for 2025, and only for the gross salaries of the Governor Irene Radović and the vice governor Zorica Kalezic i Nikola Fabris An average of around 27.657 euros is allocated per month, or almost 332.000 euros per year.
The planned revenues of the Central Bank of Montenegro for 2025 amount to 40.112.000 euros, and among expenditures, 10.914.700 euros are planned for gross salaries of employees.
According to Article 66 of the Law on the Central Bank, the income of this institution is generated through several sources. The most significant are fees for issuing licenses and approvals in accordance with the law, fees charged based on control over financial institutions, interest and other income from funds deposited abroad, positive exchange rate differences, interest on loans granted, fees for services provided by the Central Bank, in accordance with the internal tariff, income from the purchase and sale of securities, other fees within the scope of the bank's jurisdiction, as well as income generated from the use of property.
The Central Bank's revenues are used to cover its regular expenses. These include employee costs, as well as fees for banks' allocated reserve requirements, interest on funds held with the Central Bank, the costs of securing banknotes and coins, the costs of investing in securities, negative exchange rate differences, tangible and intangible costs, including depreciation, as well as other costs incurred in the regular operations of the bank.
Irena Radović, the Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro, is entitled to a basic salary of 6.512 euros, while her gross salary is 10.184,96 euros. Radović, unlike Kalezić and Fabris, also receives a monthly remuneration for work in the Financial Stability Council (SFS) in the amount of 1.691,28 euros.
Zorica Kalezić, Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro, has a basic salary of 6.068 euros, and her gross salary during 2025 was 8.202,28 euros, except in October when she was paid 7.513,40 euros gross.
Nikola Fabris, also the Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro, has a basic salary of 6.068 euros, but his gross salary is 9.269,96 euros.
Ruždija Tuzović i Milorad Jovovic, members of the CBCG Council, who are not on the Central Bank's payroll, received gross remuneration of 2.266,66 euros each for their work in this body in August.
Since the CBM SPI response did not include the net amounts of salaries of the top people of this institution, for comparison, according to the data provided in the asset declaration, Irena Radović received a basic salary of 5.657 euros in 2024 until October, and after the increase, the governor earned at least 6.450,84 euros per month.
In 2024, Radović also received compensation for her work at the Financial Stability Council (SFS), which ranged from 700 to 1.420 euros.
The SFS began operating after the adoption of the Law on the Financial Stability Council, and was formed in October 2010. The goal of the SFS is to contribute to preserving financial stability through monitoring and timely identification of systemic risk in the financial system of Montenegro.
The members of the Council, except for Irena Radović, are the Minister of Finance Novica Vuković, President of the Capital Market Commission Željko Drinčić and President of the Council of the Insurance Supervisory Agency Marko Ivanovic.
The governor invests in stocks
According to her asset card, Irena Radović invests in stocks, but the number and value of investments are not specified. In addition to shares in Luka Bar, CGES, Jugopetrol, Hotel Crna Gora, Izbor Bar, Plantaža 13. jul, Port of Adria and others, Radović also owns a certain number of government bonds whose current price, according to the Markets Insider website, is 98,342 euros.
She also owns shares in the publicly listed company Icade SA. on the Euronext Paris stock exchange. The main individual/institutional shareholders are Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) - approximately 39,4 percent of the share and SAS Rue La Boétie with approximately 18,9 percent of the share. The current share price of Icade SA is approximately 22,30 euros. after the action.
Vice Governor Zorica Kalezić, according to data from the asset card, received a net salary of 7.234 euros in December last year, and Fabris earned 7.029 euros from his salary in the last month of 2024.
Similarly in the region
Relatively high salaries in the central banking institution in Montenegro are not an exception when it comes to the region.
Although there is no official data, for the previous Governor of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH) In tune with Softia it was reported that he earned 8.025 KM net per month, or about 4.100 euros. The current governor is Jasmina Selimovic, but the CBBH does not publish the current salary of the Governor.
Regarding the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK), the media reported that the former governor Fehmi Mehmeti received 4.430 euros net per month, and the CBK has not published the salary of the current governor Ahmet Ismaili, it was stated on the Koha.net portal.
According to Albanian media, the list of the highest salaries in this country is headed by the Governor of the Central Bank of Albania (Banka e Shqipërisë) with 877.204 lek gross per month, which amounts to about 8.700 euros.
In North Macedonia, reports on salary coefficients state that the governor falls into the group of officials with a coefficient of 3,7, which after the increase in 2023 is approximately 126.000 Macedonian denars, or about 2.000 euros.
Monthly salary Jorgovanka Tabakovic, the long-time governor of the National Bank of Serbia, as reported by Nova S, in September last year, according to the asset register published on the website of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, it amounted to 752.363 dinars, or about 6.419 euros.
In Croatia, the top officials of the Croatian National Bank (HNB) are among the best-paid "officials" in the country. According to Dnevnik.hr, the deputy governor earns the most per month - 7.286 euros, the first person of the CNB earns 45 euros less, while the salaries of vice governors range from a maximum of 6.829 to a minimum of 6.208 euros.
If it's any consolation, judging by this data, we are not at all lagging behind our neighbors when it comes to the salaries of central bank executives. Quite the contrary.
Almost 50.000 euros spent on travel
Official trips of Irena Radović, Zorica Kalezić and Nikola Fabris, top officials of the Central Bank of Montenegro, cost that institution 49.519,55 euros.
Governor Radović spent a total of 38.114,38 euros on 12 official trips in 2025. The trip to the United States alone, to attend the regular spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington, cost 8,196,84 euros. The Governor's participation in a high-level conference in Mexico, organized by the Bank for International Settlements, cost the Central Bank of Montenegro 7.800,16 euros. From January 1 to September 1, Radović traveled twice to Croatia, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, and as part of the same official trip, she stayed in Reykjavik, London and Brussels. For the stay in Spain, within the framework of the IPA project, 1.676,13 euros were allocated, but this time the organizers reimbursed 604,47 euros.
Vice Governor Kalezić had four official trips this year. In addition to Italy and Georgia, she also traveled to Spain, within the framework of the IPA project, with the same reimbursement. She, like Radović, attended the regular spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington. The Vice Governor was paid 6.952,77 euros for that trip.
Nikola Fabris participated in the 32nd Business Forum on Kopaonik, as well as the Bank of Kosovo conference in Pristina. Travel expenses for these two trips amounted to 404,68 euros.
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