The unconstitutional pension simmered for four years

The former President of the Assembly Ranko Krivokapić received the so-called "official pension", which was abolished in 2017, based on the request he submitted in 2016, which was "processed" four years later - most likely during the technical mandate of the Government of Duško Marković, it was confirmed by "Vijesta" from multiple sources.

Krivokapić's request to exercise his rights was not filed in the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare to whom it was originally submitted, and this was done in the last days before the cabinet of Zdravko Krivokapić took over the executive power.

One of the interlocutors said that he did not know why Krivokapić, who is a lawyer by profession, turned to the Ministry and not the PIO Fund, whose jurisdiction it is, to exercise his rights.

Information about Krivokapić's pension was recently published by the Pcnen portal, recalling that Article 108 of the Law on Prevention of Corruption, on the basis of which the decision was made in the PIO Fund, was repealed in 2017 as unconstitutional.

The author of the text, Vuk Vujisić, told "Vijesta" that they received the initial information from a whistleblower, and that it seems that Krivokapić's case is not the only one.

"It is obvious that this is about illegal actions and the possible criminal liability of officials who could only knowingly make such a "mistake" and make an illegal decision, also lie to the public and, on top of all that, hide data.

To make matters worse, this is not a small amount, but a pension that is one of the largest in our country, and also, according to our knowledge, this is not an isolated case. It is necessary to investigate how taxpayers' money was disposed of and which officials are privileged while many citizens are barely surviving on the minimal pensions they have earned with sweat and pain all their lives," says the journalist.

Pcnen announced that Krivokapić has been receiving one of the largest pensions in Montenegro since December last year, and he received a decision on the right to a pension based on Article 108 of the Law on Prevention of Corruption, which was abolished by the Constitutional Court of Montenegro on April 21.04.2017, XNUMX. years.

They state that they officially received the information only after the PIO Fund was headed by a new management. The previous one headed by Jadranka Milošević, as they stated, refused to do so. Trying to cover up their illegal actions, they openly lied, the text reports, in their last decision, which was issued on the day of the election of the Government of Zdravko Krivokapić on December 4, 2020. At that time, it was written that the former head of the parliament had not earned the right to a pension.

Ranko Krivokapić, in a written statement for PCNEN, said that "he exercised all his personal rights in accordance with the law". Yesterday, he did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" whether it is true that he submitted the request to the Ministry in 2016, how he interprets the fact that it was accepted four years later when the article of the law was repealed and that it was done during the technical mandate of the DPS Government.

The Social Democratic Party, of which he is the honorary president, stated in their response: "Ranko Krivokapić submitted a legal and timely request to exercise his personal rights in 2016, when he was in the opposition."

The head of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare in 2016 was Zorica Kovačević (DPS), who was replaced in the Government of Electoral Confidence by Boris Marić, and after the parliamentary elections and the formation of Marković's cabinet at the end of November 2016, Kemal Purišić (Bosniak Party).

Yesterday, Purišić did not answer the calls and messages of "Vijesti" in order to explain whether he was instructed to process the application four years after it, as "Vijesti" found out, was not formally filed.

The PIO Fund, which was recently taken over by Ranko Aligrudić, told "Vijesta" that the case is being investigated and that those responsible will be prosecuted.

The previous director of the PIO Fund, Jadranka Milošević, first refused to submit documents about this case to PC nen based on the Law on Free Access to Information, and after the Agency for Free Access to Information ordered her to do so, she claimed that "the appointed person did not receive a pension with of this body".

Vujisić: When they declared the information a secret, it was clear that something was being hidden

Vuk Vujisić said that it became clear to him that "something is hidden" behind the case, after the PIO Fund rejected the request for SPi, claiming that it was a "business secret", and then they issued a decision claiming that there was no document because there was no pension . He claims that everything changed when Ranko Aligrudić came to head the Fund.

"The new director contacted me and explained that they need time to investigate the case, and that they will give us an official answer in a couple of days, which they did," he said.

I obeyed the law for 31 years, now I am being threatened politically

In Ranko Krivokapić's statement to Pcnen, it is stated that he exercised all his personal rights in accordance with the law.

"On that subject, I can tell you that I did not want to use the legal rights that belonged to me as well as others, because it was contrary to my understanding of the function of the president of the parliament. The function that I held for 13 years - the longest in the 115 years of Montenegrin parliamentarism. I could since the beginning of this century, for almost two decades, on various parliamentary grounds, to use the right to a pension in addition to the salary.As is known, I did not do that.

I declared my assets 6 years before the law required me to do so, as soon as I became a government.

I exercise some personal rights by law like others, but since joining the opposition to both the old and the new government. Rights that are also practiced in many EU countries.

Now I am not a public official, I have left the political arena and I have the right to legal protection of personal data like any other citizen. I obeyed the law without question for all 31 years of my parliamentary life. The election to the biggest international office in the history of Montenegro - the president of the largest parliamentary assembly in the world - the OSCE, probably points to this. All this further obligates me, but it seems that he is now personally threatening me with political motivation...", Krivokapić's statement reads.