Barley: Fake data leads to higher prices

Independent councilor in the Assembly of the Municipality of Pljevlja Saša Ječmenica filed a criminal complaint with the Basic State Prosecutor's Office against those responsible at DOO "Čistoća" Pljevlja, on suspicion that when proposing a new price list for utility services, they provided inaccurate financial data to councilors in order to justify a significant increase in prices for citizens and businesses.

Ječmenica is a lawyer by profession and the former director of "Čistoća".

According to the application, on March 2, 2026, the Board of Directors of "Čistoća" adopted a new price list for municipal waste collection, transport and disposal services, which increased prices for citizens by 41 percent, while for entrepreneurs, companies and the public sector increases ranging from five to 80 percent were envisaged. This price list, along with an explanation, was submitted for approval to the Municipal Assembly, which gave its consent to its implementation.

In its explanation, the company's management referred to Article 53 of the Law on Communal Services, which stipulates that the prices of communal services are formed on the basis of real costs of labor, energy, maintenance, equipment, loans and other justified expenses. Accordingly, the councilors were provided with a table of projected costs, according to which 1.908.000 euros are needed annually to perform this activity in the coming period.

The applicant, however, claims that the company's official financial reports show that the waste collection and disposal unit already generates revenues significantly higher than that amount under the current, old price list from 2020. According to data from the Annual Report for 2025, this unit generated total revenues of approximately 2,26 million euros, through individual utility consumption, waste collection from villages and bulky waste, reimbursements from the municipality, sewage sludge collection, as well as donations and refunds.

The complaint states that, despite this information, the councilors were shown the unit's revenue of approximately 1,37 million euros along with the price list, which, according to the complainant, is in contradiction with the company's official financial documentation. This, it is claimed, created the conditions for misleading the councilors and for the price increase to be presented as a necessity to cover costs.

In particular, certain items of projected costs are also disputed, such as 100.000 euros for ongoing maintenance of communal infrastructure, 80.000 euros for consumables and 100.000 euros for other operating costs, which the applicant believes have been increased in order to justify the need for higher revenues.

After publicly pointing out these allegations in early April, Ječmenica claims that the management of "Čistoća" submitted an additional explanation to the councilors immediately before the session, which further explains the structure of salary costs for 105 workers engaged directly or indirectly in waste removal work. According to him, this explanation did not further clarify the disputed items of other costs. As an additional argument, the application also states the company's current liquidity ratio for 2025 of 3,29, which, according to the applicant, indicates that the company already has significantly more working capital than is needed to cover short-term liabilities.

The report concludes that the responsible persons knowingly entered incorrect data into the documentation submitted to the Municipal Assembly, thereby allegedly attempting to mislead the councilors and secure approval for a price list that would bring the company hundreds of thousands of euros in additional revenue annually.

"Čistoća" has not yet made any public statements on this matter, while the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Pljevlja is expected to take action and possibly conduct a financial expert examination that should clarify the allegations in the report.

GM

"The proposed Decision requested that the application of the price list be postponed until December 31, 2026, in order to prevent damage to citizens and the economy, if the expert assessment shows that incorrect data was used in the proposal and explanation of the price list," Ječmenica stated.