The Parliament of Montenegro, chaired by Andrija Mandic, spent 2024 euros on the national team in 78.075,20. These are mainly restaurant bills for festive lunches and dinners organized in honor of guests who came to Montenegro. The amounts range from around 1.000 to 3.721,40 euros, which is how much was paid for dining on board the restaurant "Katica".
"The cost of representation is determined by the annual budgets of central or local administrations, as well as the financial plans of public enterprises. This cost generally includes official lunches, dinners, event organization, and the like, i.e. activities that should be related to the official benefit for a state body, institution, or enterprise. Also, by monitoring budget spending, it can be seen that this cost often includes, for example, spending in stores (markets, shops) for administrative supplies," he explains. Ines Mrdovic, director of the Action for Social Justice (ASP).
The first man of parliament had numerous guests during 2024. In September, he visited Laszlo Cover, Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, in October Jussi Halla-aho, President of the Finnish Parliament, Angelo Ferudja, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malta, in November Mandić hosted the President of North Macedonia Gordan Siljanovska Taxes...
Most of the invoices for which payments were made do not state in whose honor the lunch or dinner was organized, but, for example, lunch with a delegation of Azerbaijanis, attended by 40 people, cost taxpayers 2.774,40 euros, dining on board the ship at the "Katica" restaurant 3.721,30 euros, and lunch at Plantaža's "Šipčanik" 1.956,30 euros.
A dinner for the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malta cost 1.172,40 euros at an exclusive Podgorica restaurant, followed by a meal at a Kotor restaurant for 1.372,30 euros.
The Montenegrin Parliament hosted the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the South-East European Cooperation Process (PS SEECP) within the framework of the Montenegrin chairmanship.
A study visit by the Committee on Security and Defense of the Senate of the Republic of France was also recorded.
The second International Forum of Delegations of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly from Southeastern Europe was held in Podgorica and Budva from 18 to 20 September, with the participation of parliamentarians from 13 countries. A dinner was paid for the guests and hosts, a total of 30 people, in the amount of 2.767,39 euros.
The 22nd meeting of the European Union-Montenegro Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC) was also held in Montenegro. It was hosted by Dejan Djurovic, head of the Montenegrin delegation to the POSP.
The delegation for foreign affairs of the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey also paid an official visit to Montenegro.
The delegation of the Friendship Group of the Parliament of Georgia with the Parliament of Montenegro visited Montenegro from July 1 to 3.
He also visited Montenegro Nebojša Radmanović, President of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.
For the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumena Radeva Mandić organized a gala lunch at the Šipčanik Wine Cellar, which cost 2.007,82 euros.
Mandić spent 15 euros on his representation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) on the 16th and 395,73th in Braga, Portugal.
The President of the Assembly and a delegation paid an official visit to the Kingdom of Sweden. On that occasion, the costs of the lunch were covered by the Deputy Secretary General of the Assembly. Boban Stanišić so he was refunded 269,14 euros from the state treasury.
A cocktail party in the Government House building in Cetinje on July 12, on the occasion of Statehood Day, cost 701,80 euros.
Zdenka Popović, Vice President of the Parliament of Montenegro, was paid 274,89 euros as reimbursement of expenses for representation for the needs of the Parliament delegation that visited BiH. One lunch for the Vice President of the Parliament was also recorded among the invoices. Nicholas Camouflage with representatives of the Albanian embassy for a modest 124,70 euros in one of Podgorica's restaurants.
There are also two bills addressed to Ivan Vuković, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for European Integration. One of 109 euros for a working lunch with the British Ambassador Dom Meken and, second, a similar working meeting with Johann Satler, the EU Ambassador to Montenegro, who was paid 186,11 euros.
Answering the question of whether and who controls spending on representation, Ines Mrdović points out that state bodies practically control themselves.
"There is a chief executive of the body (minister, president of the parliament, director...) who is responsible for the legality of spending, but this usually boils down to making sure that it fits within the amount projected in the budget or financial plan. Of course, there is also the Budget Inspection, but there is not enough information to what extent they are involved in control," Mrdović points out.
She believes that the bylaw should clearly regulate the conditions, criteria, subject matter, subjects...
"One of the solutions is greater transparency, obliging public administration to post documentation on spending, specifically orders and invoices, on the website. The projected one million euros for representation this year alone (at the central administration level) certainly justifies publicly publishing in as much detail as possible where taxpayers' money is spent," said the director of the Action for Social Justice, emphasizing that the attitude of officials in the richest countries towards public money and their taxpayers is much more responsible than is the case here.
"Vijesti" obtained the data for this article with the help of SPI, using the MANS application "Ask institutions".
"Catering services" for Mandić in a villa in Žabljak
Last year, from August 17 to 27, Andrija Mandić stayed in a villa in Žabljak, which the Secretary General of the Assembly was informed about, with the note that it was necessary to "provide catering services for the specified period."
The state of Montenegro has three guest villas. In addition to “Gorica” in the capital, state officials can also use the “Topliš” villa in Miločer, “Žabljak” in Žabljak, and the “Njivice” villa in Njivice.
The Parliament spent more than 12 ministries
For comparison, for the year, from November 1, 2023 to November 1, 2024, as "Vijesti" already wrote, 12 ministries of the Government of Montenegro spent a total of 58.769,85 euros on representation.
From the budget, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (12.513,89 euros), the Ministry of Culture and Media (8.968,16), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (8.922,03) and the Ministry of Finance (8.282,42), the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North (645,09), the Ministry of Energy (1.781,45), the Ministry of European Affairs (1.996,20), the Ministry of Social Welfare and Family Care (162,79), the Ministry of Tourism (3.994,37), the Ministry of Public Administration (3.403,04), the Ministry of Finance (8.282,42), the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property (5.015,06) and the Ministry of Transport (2.431,55) collected the most.
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