Miloš Mašković, president of the European Union Councilors' Club in the Capital City Assembly, today called on the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office (VDT) to investigate the operations of City RTV, and on the Mayor of Podgorica, Saša Mujović, and the President of the City RTV Council, Vesna Radulović, to initiate the dismissal of the director of that media house, Vladimir Otašević.
The State Audit Institution (SAI) announced earlier today that it had given a qualified opinion on the Annual Financial Report and an adverse opinion on the regularity of the operations of the City RTV for 2024.
"The report of the State Audit Institution (DRI) has exposed the truth about the situation in the Local Public Broadcaster RTV Podgorica and clearly showed why this institution has been hiding data about its operations from the public for months. A qualified opinion on the financial report and a negative opinion on the regularity of operations represent the most severe form of criticism that a public company can receive. Now everything that I have been pointing out for months has been officially confirmed: City RTV systematically and consciously violated the laws, with flagrant violation of internal and external financial regulations, all under the patronage of the current management. It is particularly alarming that the DRI has determined that the director of the company requested money from the company for personal needs through an 'advance payment', which raises the issue of possible criminal acts and clearly goes beyond the framework of disciplinary liability," Mašković pointed out in a statement that he also published on the social network X.
He added that among the numerous irregularities identified by the auditors were: keeping double and inaccurate balance sheets, where City RTV presented the current year's loss and capital in different amounts depending on the report, thereby misleading the tax and financial public.
"It is particularly concerning that the financial reports were not adopted by the Council, nor were they submitted to the Tax Administration, which violated key legal obligations. The SAI determined that employees were hired outside the systematization and without public advertising, that service contracts were used to perform tasks that represent regular job duties, all in violation of the Labor Law. Multiple payments of compensation without a legal basis were also recorded, as well as violations of the principle of separation of duties in the calculation and payment of salaries, which indicates a high risk of abuse," said Mašković.
He said that in the area of tax operations, it was determined that the Company used the right to deduct VAT for the purchase of vehicles and equipment that were not used exclusively for business purposes, contrary to the Law on Value Added Tax.
"It was also found that the company used profit tax without a valid basis, including deductions based on the purchase of spare parts for the vehicle. Irregularities were also recorded in the area of public procurement and asset management: the purchase of mobile phones, gifts and other assets was carried out without decisions and plans, while the Register of Immovable and Movable Property was not maintained in accordance with the Law on State Property. Asset cards were not made, inventory records were incomplete, and the list of liabilities was omitted from the report, which indicates the lack of basic internal control," said Mašković.
In his words, "in addition to all of the above, the SAI notes that the City RTV did not keep separate accounting for public and commercial services, which is an obligation prescribed by the Law on Audiovisual Media Services, which calls into question the transparency in spending funds from the city budget."
"The public must know that the State Audit Institution has already submitted a report to the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office, which additionally obliges local government structures to respond urgently. Therefore, I call on Mayor Saša Mujović and the President of the City RTV Council, Ms. Vesna Radulović, to initiate the dismissal of Director Otašević, because any further tolerance of this management would constitute complicity in covering up illegalities. I also ask the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office to urgently investigate the operations of the City RTV, with a special emphasis on loans, service contracts and misuse of budget funds," Mašković stated.
He said that the City RTV is a public institution funded by all citizens of Podgorica, and not a private company serving personal and party interests.
"It is time to establish both financial and criminal responsibility for what the DRI, without a doubt, has marked as an example of systemic and deliberate violation of the law," said Mašković.
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