The Fund for Disabled Persons went bankrupt, they spent everything by July

The Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities has gone bankrupt again and since the middle of last month has not paid subsidies to employers who employ persons with disabilities, because the sum of 26 million euros planned for this entire year has been spent in six and a half months.

In the past three years, “Vijesti” has published several articles pointing to a large number of frauds in the disability and social protection system involving a number of persons with disabilities and employers. That is, there is a drastic increase in the number of persons with a decision on determining disability, mostly from the commissions in Berane and Rožaje, as well as an increase in the salaries for which employers report them and for which they receive subsidies from the state budget through this Fund. Also, there are no legal restrictions on the amount of salary that the employer reports them, and the Fund can subsidize them up to 70 percent of the amount for which the employer reports them.

This Fund does not have the ability to control requests it receives from employers, or to check whether the employee is actually performing work activities, as well as whether the salary reported by the employer is realistic or has been set at a high level only due to state subsidies.

In 2017, subsidies were used for 319 people with disabilities, and now that number has exceeded six thousand and continues to grow. Therefore, the amounts of these subsidies are increasing year after year, and for the past seven years, the annual amount has increased from 2,7 to 40 million last year, while this year it will increase to 50 million.

Significant growth in new requests

The Employment Agency, which is part of this Fund, confirmed to "Vijesti" that since the beginning of the year, ending on July 7, they have paid a total of 25.999.388,44 euros in subsidies to employers who employ people with disabilities. The state budget for this purpose for the entire year 2026 has allocated a sum of 25,8 million euros.

""The contractual obligations of the Employment Agency of Montenegro towards employers based on subsidies for the employment of persons with disabilities are settled in accordance with the available funds and procedures. Due to the significant increase in the number of submitted applications and the continuous growth of allocations for this purpose, the dynamics of processing and implementation of individual applications can be adjusted to the available budget funds. However, this does not call into question the right of employers to the subsidy, nor the commitment of the Agency to settle all assumed obligations," the Agency replied to the question of "Vijesti" why the payment of subsidies for the employment of persons with disabilities has ceased.

This Fund went bankrupt last year because it had spent the 23 million euros planned for the entire year by August 8. Now the bankruptcy came a month earlier and with spending three million more.

Law for stricter controls blocked

Two years ago, the state planned a stricter Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, in order to limit the maximum amount of subsidies per employee, following the example of European Union countries, and introduce greater controls in the registration of these employees. However, after protests from a group of NGOs, including those that are themselves employers and beneficiaries of subsidies, the Government adopted relaxed laws.

As "Vijesti" previously wrote, some employers and people with disabilities noticed a legal gap four or five years ago, namely that there were no controls and that there was no limit on the amount of reported earnings for which they receive subsidies. Since then, the number of people with disabilities has increased manifold, as well as the amount of earnings for which they are reported and for which they receive subsidies, regardless of their professional qualifications and job position.

"Vijesti" also published the salaries that employers reported for these employees, so cooks, drivers, parts salesmen, loggers, etc. had salaries of two and a half to three thousand euros, or up to a thousand euros more than the prime minister's salary.

Postponement of expert examination

In October last year, the Parliament adopted the Law on Unified Disability Assessment, which envisaged a series of changes to the disability assessment system in Montenegro, which were supposed to begin on July 1st of this year.

However, the Ministry of Social Welfare, headed by Damir Gutic (BS) proposed amendments to this law to the parliament, postponing the deadlines until December 1st.

One of the reasons for adopting the law was to re-evaluate the disabilities assigned by the previous commissions, due to the drastic increase in the number of people receiving decisions. The record holders are the municipalities of Berane and Rožaje, where the number of people with disabilities reaches a quarter of the total population.

This law provided for the establishment of the Institute for Unified Disability Expertise, as a central institution that would conduct expert assessments according to a unified methodology. This institute was supposed to start operating on July 1, however, the amendment to the law states that the by-laws have not yet been drafted, which is why the start of its work is being postponed to December. The law entered into force on October 30 last year and according to it, the Expertise Methodology was supposed to be adopted within 60 days, and the by-law regulating the program and method of conducting training for the unified disability expert assessment was supposed to be adopted within 90 days.

Rebalance the budget or transfer money from the reserve

In order for the Fund to be unblocked and to continue paying subsidies, it is necessary for the Parliament to adopt a state budget rebalance or for the Ministry of Finance to transfer the missing amount of money from the budget reserve, with the Government's decision.

"Vijesti" asked the Institute whether they had informed the Ministry about the spending of the money and when the continuation of the payment of subsidies could be expected. "The Institute continuously monitors the implementation of budget funds intended for subsidies for the employment of persons with disabilities and, in accordance with its competences, regularly communicates with the Ministry of Finance on budget execution and the need to secure funds. Given the growth in the number of beneficiaries and the increased volume of allocations for subsidies, the Institute and the Ministry of Finance are considering appropriate budgetary mechanisms in order to ensure continuity of funding and the proper fulfillment of obligations towards employers," the Institute responded to questions from "Vijesti".