The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) has punished 12 parties by suspending payments from the budget for failing to submit financial reports for last year, and the list Budva Our City - Nikola Jovanović was the most "hit", with 75.724 euros blocked.
ASK imposed 14 measures to suspend the transfer of budget funds to political entities that failed to submit the annual consolidated financial report for 2024, in the total amount of 137.898 euros, and initiated 21 misdemeanor proceedings.
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According to data provided by ASK to ''Vijesti'', in addition to the list of Budva our city, the list of political entities that have been imposed measures includes the Movement for Pljevlja, the Socialists, the Turnaround for Danilovgrad, the Durmitor Initiative, People and the Point of Bijelo Polje, the Krtoljska List, the Citizens' Group The People Win, the Vasojević Movement United Andrijevica, the Citizens' Group for the Life of Nikšić, the Bokek Forum and We Will Not Give Up Mojkovac.
According to the Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns, the budget funds for financing the regular work of political entities in the Parliament of Montenegro amount to 0,5 percent of the planned current budget of Montenegro in the year for which the budget is adopted. For financing the regular work of political entities in municipal assemblies, the Assembly of the Capital City and the Assembly of the Royal Capital, the law allocates 1,1 percent of the planned current budget of each individual local self-government unit. Exceptionally, in municipalities whose budget is less than five million euros, the budget funds for financing the regular work of political entities amount to 1,1 to 3 percent of the planned current budget.
Pursuant to Article 48 of the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns, parties are required to submit the final accounts and annual consolidated financial report for the previous year, in printed and electronic form, to the State Audit Institution (SAI), the Tax Administration and the ASK by March 31.
The largest suspended amount refers to the list of the current president of the Budva Municipality, Nikola Jovanović, 75.724 euros, followed by the People Wins list with 11.580 euros, the Krtoljska list with 11.353 euros, and the Movement for Pljevlja with 10.038 euros.
The Boka Forum was fined with a suspension of payments of 8.704 euros, the Durmitor Initiative 4.464, the Citizens' Group for the Life of Nikšić 3.955, People and the Dot 3.240, We Will Not Give Up Mojkovac 3.105, Turnaround for Danilovgrad 2.736, the Socialists 2.700 and the Vasojević Unity Movement 1.044 euros.
Jovanović's group unofficially told "Vijesti" that they were not aware of the ASK decision, that they were a group of citizens, not a party, and that they did not know "where it came from."
Jovanović formed the government in Budva after the repeat elections in November last year. In February, he was elected mayor of the municipality, and was supported, in addition to 12 councilors from his list, by the European Union, the Civic Movement URA, and the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
The president of the Movement for Pljevlja, Novica Stanić, told ''Vijesti'' that they had mistakenly not submitted the report and that they would do so in the coming days.
He said they were told that as soon as they submitted the document, the blockade would be lifted.
The Movement for Pljevlja has two councilors in the Pljevlja parliament and is a member of the ruling coalition.
The Socialists told ''Vijesti'' that they submitted the annual consolidated financial report for 2024, in accordance with Article 48, paragraph 2 of the Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns.
"In accordance with the above, the Socialists sent a report to the Tax Administration on March 30," said the party, and provided "Vijesti" with a confirmation from the Montenegrin Post Office.
The same report, as they state, was sent to ASK on March 31, as well as to the DRI, and "the date of submission of this report to ASK was confirmed by the Agency itself in a table published on their website, which states that the Socialist report was submitted on March 31, 2025."
They add that they learned about the imposed measure based on an inquiry from ''Vijesti'', and will immediately submit the evidence to ASK in order to repeal the unfounded measure and inform the public about it, ''because it was clearly caused by some lapse in communication between the Tax Administration and ASK, therefore through no fault of the Socialists''.
They state that the party was harmed and its credibility damaged by publishing the statement about the imposed measure, even though it is a political entity "which has been fulfilling its legal obligations regarding the submission of reports regularly and within the legal deadline since its establishment."
The Socialists have one council mandate in Kotor, where a government has not yet been formed after last year's elections, as the official election results have not yet been announced, given that the Constitutional Court could not make a decision on election complaints.
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