The Director of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS), Vanja Ćalović Marković, announced today that the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić, was the Minister of Finance when the Bemaks company was smuggling cigarettes from the Free Zone of the Port of Bar.
She said this at a meeting of the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants, during the debate on the Bill on the ratification of the cooperation agreement between the Government of Montenegro and the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the field of tourism and real estate development, as well as economic cooperation between the two countries.
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Ćalović Marković pointed out that she does not have a house in Ulcinj, and that she has no personal interest.
"I have the same interest as when I defended Buljarica," she said.
She added that there was talk about Velika Plaza because Spajić mentioned it.
"I think there will be nothing on Velika Plaža, because Alabar saw that the citizens did not want it, but that he would do something on Buljarica. We all know that the Arabs have been interested in Velika Plaža, Buljarica, Plave Horizonte for ten years. The Prime Minister is now telling us that he discovered hot water because he brought an Arab to Velika Plaža, and they have been trying to get it for ten years. For ten years, the DPS (Democratic Party of Socialists) has been proposing various laws, and we are fighting against them," said Ćalović Marković.
She noted that it had become urgent to vote on the agreement, not the anti-corruption laws.
She added that the agreement is very important because it includes the construction of facilities for transshipment, re-export and temporary storage, and that this will be used for cigarette smuggling.
"What do we need this for in the agreement? I guess it's normal that we have transshipment facilities. You know what for? For cigarettes, gentlemen. There are Laković (Miodrag - MP of the Europe Now Movement) and Abazović (Dritan, president and MP of the Civic Movement URA). Ask them where cigarettes come from in Montenegro. Temporary storage of cigarettes is prohibited by government decision, but if you adopt this agreement, cigarettes from the UAE will be able to be stored because it will be above the government decision," she said.
As she said, she believed that Spajić had the will to fight cigarette smuggling, but that she realized that papers from the Port of Bar were being laundered, and that he was the Minister of Finance at the time.
"Do you know who was the finance minister when Bemaks was smuggling cigarettes from the Free Zone of the Port of Bar? Milojko Spajić, gentlemen. And he kept the former head of the State Security Service as the customs director until he appointed Saša Damjanović. That's why there's so much nervousness about this being voted on before Good Friday," Ćalović Marković said.
She also said at the same session that the Venice Commission (VC) had pointed out to the Government and Parliament several times when the IBAR laws were being passed, which she assessed as "passed hastily, over the knee".
"The story of this agreement is an extreme indicator of what happens when you don't have a public debate. There is no step that the Government and the Prime Minister did not skip. It was adopted at an electronic session that, according to my information, lasted from 20:55 to 21:28. The members of the Government had thirty-three minutes to consider this agreement. Tell me who is this lawyer who can consider such a complex matter in 33 minutes from the time he was delivered the document to the time he is supposed to make his statement," said Ćalović Marković.
As she added, no one is against investments, but citizens are against them being implemented only in the interests of investors.
"Maybe we could understand this if it were done this way, for example, if we live in Canada, the USA, and we have excess space. And we live in Montenegro and especially in the southern region, there is not much left to valorize in a quality way. I am convinced that most of you MPs, no matter which party you come from, do not want any more cities to turn into Budva, any more cities to be concreted over. The question here is not whether we should invest in Velika Plaža, but the way in which we should," said Ćalović Marković.
She pointed out that there was talk of regional development, but that it all came down to building apartments on the coast.
"Wouldn't it be logical to tell the investor to build in the north first, and then see. But we know that this is a simple political lie to win over the Bosniak Party," she said, adding that "the DPS did the same, so it ended up where it ended up."
"Where are the gentlemen from DPS? They are not there because this gentleman likes Đukanović," she said.
She also said that "in this business there is no way to protect Montenegro from dirty capital."
"We know who has invested in Montenegro so far and we know that there was money laundering by our and international criminals. I think this is an agreement between PES and part of DPS," said Ćalović Marković.
She stated that the Competition Protection Agency was not consulted and said that the state must listen to its institutions.
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