The Municipality of Budva, or rather its Secretariat for Budget, Accounting and Economic Development, will have to submit information on how much each of the municipal officials, starting from the Mayor and Municipal Assembly, to the Secretary of the Secretariat, has collected during this year not only in terms of salary, but also on the basis of other income from membership in numerous committees and working bodies, as well as overtime work for which they receive substantial fees.
They are obliged to do so by the Law on Free Access to Information, which was invoked by the leader and councilor of the citizens' group "Movement for the City". Đorđe Zenović who, as confirmed to "Vijesti", submitted the request, after the Acting Secretary of the Secretariat for Budget, Accounting and Economic Development Slavko Đukanović (European Union official) did not, despite the urgency, answer the councilor's question.
On November 26, Zenović, citing Article 43 of the Rules of Procedure of the Budva Municipal Assembly, submitted a councilor's question to the municipal secretariat in which he requested that the information be provided to him. However, since he did not receive any response, Zenović sent an urgent request to the acting secretary Đukanović on December 2, but even after that he did not receive the answer he was due.
Zenović submitted a new request to the municipal secretariat on December 9, but this time he referred to the Law on Free Access to Information.
"In accordance with Article 13 of the Law on Free Access to Information, please provide me with a list of all local officials in local government (Mayor of the Municipality, President of the Assembly, Chief Administrator, Chief City Architect, Manager and other heads of local government bodies), as well as their gross and net salaries and all other income on other grounds (additional work, membership in committees and other regular and extraordinary income) for 2025, by month," Zenović stated in his latest request.
As previously reported by "Vijesti", the citizens of Budva will be costing the overly cumbersome and dysfunctional municipal administration 10,5 million euros this year, which will be allocated in the 2025 budget rebalance for the payment of salaries of local government employees alone. A total of 9,3 million euros will be paid for gross salaries and contributions, while an additional 1,25 million euros will be paid for other personal income. This does not include employees in public institutions, sports institutions, municipal enterprises and local media, for whom an additional 10 million euros will be allocated from the budget, most of which will go to salaries. This means that practically almost a third of the budget goes to employee salaries
The number of employees currently employed in the municipal administration is not publicly known. According to data from the Secretariat for Local Self-Government, as of December 31, 2024, 396 civil servants and state employees were employed in local government bodies and services, four of whom are on a fixed-term basis based on mandates.
The deadline for the Municipal Assembly to adopt the budget is December 31st, and according to information from "Vijesti" almost 11 million euros are planned for gross salaries and contributions next year. Whether this will remain the case will be known when the draft budget passes the public debate and is adopted by the local parliament.
Only after the Municipality puts the draft budget up for public debate will it be known how much money will be allocated for employee salaries next year.
Incidentally, the day before yesterday, the Mayor of the Municipality, Nikola Jovanović, made a decision to pay a winter allowance for administration employees in the amount of 500 euros.
ASK controls the work of the Acting Secretary for Communal and Housing Affairs
The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has requested that the Administrative Inspection exclude documentation from the scope of work of the acting secretary for communal and housing affairs, Desa Vlačić. This was officially confirmed to "Vijesti" by the ASK, after the editorial office was unofficially told that the Administrative Inspection had already submitted the request to the Municipality.
"The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, in accordance with its legal competences, has sent a request to the Administrative Inspection to secure and inspect relevant documentation from the Municipality of Budva, which relates to the tasks within the scope of the Acting Secretary for Communal and Housing Affairs. This is a standard procedure in situations when, for a complete and impartial determination of the facts, it is necessary to obtain data through the competent supervisory authorities," the official response from the ASK states.
ASK did not want to comment on the reason for the action, or whether it was a matter of controlling the salary of the municipal employee.
"The Administrative Inspection has initiated the supervision procedure and it is ongoing. Until it is completed, the Agency cannot make assessments or provide information on possible irregularities, which is in accordance with the rules of procedure in cases that have not been completed. Upon completion of the supervision and determination of the entire factual situation, the public will be informed in a timely manner in accordance with the law and prescribed procedures," the ASK stressed.
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