Public officials from the executive and legislative branches in Montenegro are increasingly reporting that they own cryptocurrencies, but data on the value of digital assets is most often not publicly available.
According to the Law on the Prevention of Corruption, public officials are required to submit annual reports on their income and assets to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (APC). Although Article 26 of the Law defines assets as assets in electronic or digital form, Article XNUMX does not specify how digital assets should be classified in the reports.
There is no specific section for digital assets in the income and asset declaration forms, which would list the type, name, quantity and current market value of crypto assets. The law also does not require public officials to provide statements from digital wallets, which would determine whether the value of their assets has changed.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic In his recently published asset declaration for last year, he stated that he owned bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), binance coin (BNB), and tether (USDT), acquired through purchases. He left the list of cryptocurrencies open, as he wrote “etc.” in the declaration.
The first person in the Montenegrin government did not specify how many cryptocurrencies there are or their value. One bitcoin was worth around 75.812 euros yesterday.
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In 2020, after taking office as Minister of Finance and Social Welfare in the Government, Spajić Zdravka Krivokapića, reported to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption that he owned 150.000 euros worth of bitcoins. This was stated in his files from December 2020 and March of the following year.
In the 2022 card, Spajić lists possession of Bitcoin, and in the cards published last year and this year, he lists other cryptocurrencies, but without specifying their value.
Spajić is known for his advocacy for Montenegro to become a “crypto paradise,” or a destination suitable for doing business with cryptocurrencies. While still the finance minister, he announced the adoption of a law that would regulate the field of crypto assets, and formed the Directorate for Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies…
Spajić's chief of staff Branko Krvavac He reported to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption that he owned cryptocurrencies worth 5.518 euros, which is half the amount in the previous year's asset report. In his asset report for the previous year, Krvavac stated that he owned cryptocurrencies worth a total of 10.185 euros, which he acquired through purchase. After being appointed as the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, in a report from November 2023, Krvavac stated that he owned cryptocurrencies worth more than 5.500 euros. However, he did not state in the report what types and quantities of cryptocurrencies he owned.
The Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Economic Development also own digital assets. Nick DjelosajIn his asset declaration submitted to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, he listed his possession of the cryptocurrencies ChainLink, Shiba inu, and Dogecoin. He did not specify the quantity or value of the digital assets in the declaration.
Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property Slaven Radunović In his latest asset declaration, he did not declare his possession of cryptocurrencies, although he stated in March 2024 that he owned digital assets. At that time, he specified that he had purchased cryptocurrencies, but did not specify their type or value.
Minister of Mining, Oil and Gas and Head of the Ministry of Energy Admir Šahmanović also owns digital assets, but does not state their value. He first declared the cryptocurrencies BTC, ETH, USDT in the asset declaration he submitted after leaving office as State Secretary at the Ministry of Capital Investments - in October 2023, and then in the annual report after leaving office for 2023, as well as in the latest report for 2024.
Member of the Albanian Alliance Ilir Chapuni reported in his asset declaration for last year that he owns the cryptocurrencies Algorand and ETH. For the first time, he reported in his regular asset declaration for 2019 that he owns the cryptocurrencies FAB, and since 2020, he has also reported Algorand. For the former, he stated that the currency was the US dollar, for the latter, the euro, but did not specify their value.
Director General of the State Treasury Directorate at the Ministry of Finance Dragan Darmanović In his 2024 asset declaration, he listed the types of cryptocurrencies he owns, but not their quantity and value. Darmanović owns the cryptocurrencies Shiba Inu (SHIB), First Digital USD (FDUSD), TRON (TRX), IoTeX (IOTX), Binance (BNB) and APENFT. Compared to his 2023 asset declaration, Darmanović reported owning three new types of cryptocurrencies.
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