Montenegro has five registered lobbyists, although the Law on Lobbying was adopted four years ago. According to the data of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK), three new lobbyists were registered last month, after they passed the exam for lobbying.
According to the register, published on the Agency's website, the only registered lobbyists in Montenegro are Jelena Pavićević, Lado Šekularac, Elvis Duraković, Ana Đurović and Nikola Sinistaj.
The Agency states that since January 2016, they have published twenty public invitations for applicants to take the exam for lobbying. 14 candidates passed the exams, who can then ask the Agency to enter them in the register of lobbyists.
"Lobbying activities can only be carried out by persons who are registered in the registry of lobbyists at the Agency, and the performance of this activity by unregistered lobbyists is illegal and subject to misdemeanor liability. In order to strengthen public awareness of lobbying as an anti-corruption mechanism and register as many candidates as possible to take the lobbying exam, the Agency continuously conducts an informative anti-corruption campaign on this topic", the Agency states.
The Agency, which is headed by Sreten Radonjić, reminds that the field of lobbying is regulated by the Law that regulates the conditions and manner of conducting lobbying activities, lobbying rules and other issues of importance for lobbying. It is stated that the law was enacted to protect the public interest, prevent conflicts of interest and transparency of the lobbying process.
Lobbying, as stated in the law, is defined as an activity that exerts influence on legislative and executive authorities at the state and local level in the process of adopting regulations in order to achieve the interests of the lobbying client.
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