Regarding the articles published in "Vijesti" under the titles "Vlahović and Drakić illegally in FZD" and "New competition announced for FZD director", on October 21 and October 28, Vojin Vlahović, whose four-year term as director expired on October 3, reacted.
"Vijesti" reports Vlahović's reaction in full.
"As the competition for the appointment of the Director of the Deposit Protection Fund is ongoing, the statements of the candidate for the Director of the Deposit Protection Fund, Mladen Bojanić, represent an unauthorized pressure on decision-makers, in this case the Board of Directors of the Fund, and create a false image in the public about one of the candidates for director, because these statements contain a series of untruths and as such are completely unfounded. I also want to point out that I have not been contacted with the opportunity to present facts that negate the untruths.
Namely, I was appointed as the Director of the Deposit Protection Fund by the Fund's Board of Directors at its meeting on 29 September 2021, appreciating my previous work engagement and work experience, and there were no complaints from other candidates about this decision. Bojanić's claim that I was appointed illegally, i.e. in violation of Article 28 of the Deposit Protection Law, which states that five years of experience in the financial sector is required for this position, is untrue. According to the position of the Ministry of Finance, as the proposer of the Deposit Protection Law of 23 October 2025, which was submitted to the Fund at the request of the President of the Fund's Board of Directors, Borko Božović, this ministry indicates "that the definition of the 'financial sector' is not recognized in our legal system, and that this condition should be interpreted as work experience acquired in the field of finance." Since I spent four years at the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund working as a senior advisor in the finance sector, this indicates the absurdity of Bojanić's allegations. The remaining year of experience in the field of finance I undoubtedly gained in the position of economic advisor to the Prime Minister of Montenegro and I believe it is not necessary to explain that these responsible tasks also included the field of finance. All this was appreciated by the then composition of the Fund's Management Board and legally appointed me as the Fund's director.
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Regarding Bojanić's allegations regarding the method of selecting members of the Fund's Board of Directors, I would like to remind you that, in accordance with the Law on Deposit Protection, members of the Board of Directors are appointed by the President of Montenegro, with one appointed at the proposal of the Ministry of Finance, one at the proposal of the Central Bank, one at the proposal of the Association of Banks, one at the proposal of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro and one at his own proposal. This solution was implemented during the drafting of the Law on Deposit Protection, taking into account the recommendations of the FSAP (Financial Sector Assessment Program) mission of the World Bank and the IMF, in order to ensure the independence of the Fund through the inclusion of independent members. At the same time, the Law, through the role of the President of Montenegro, who has strong legitimacy resulting from the direct election by the citizens of Montenegro, has additionally strengthened the Fund's resistance to external influences. For this reason, Bojanić's allegations about the alleged threat to the public interest and references to the existence of corruption are tendentious and unfounded, which I reject with indignation on this occasion," the response states.
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