Long-time government official and current vice-president of the Parliament of Montenegro Branimir Gvozdenović spent at least 370 thousand euros for the education of his two children in Milan and London.
Gvozdenović could not save that amount from official income, and he told Vijestima that "he had the help of extended relatives", without further explanation.
Assuming that Gvozdenović led a very modest life, this aid would have to be at least 100.000 euros. The long-time state official was obliged to state such an amount of aid, or gifts, in his report on income and assets.
Data obtained by the MANS Research Center show that Gvozdenović spent at least 2007 euros for the education of his children at prestigious European colleges in the period from 2016 to 370. At the same time, according to Gvozdenović's reports on assets and income, his entire family earned a total of less than 330 thousand euros in those nine years. This means, as long as Gvozdenović did not give a single cent for food, utilities and other living expenses for him and his wife, he would still lack 40 thousand euros for the education of his children abroad.
When even the very modest living expenses of the Gvozdenović couple are included for a period of nine years, it is obvious that 100 euros were missing for the education of their two children in European capitals. If the children's education was financed from legal income, the question arises as to what the Gvozdenović family lived on for nine years, how long their children's stay in London and Milan lasted.
Son Marko's schooling cost at least 147 thousand euros
Marko Gvozdenović began his studies at Bocconi University in Milan in 2007. Data from that university show that his three-year education cost the Gvozdenović family at least 36 euros. If the younger Gvozdenović did not rent an apartment but lived in a student dormitory, it would have cost his father at least another 20 euros for the entire period of study, according to data on the price of student accommodation within the University of Milan. If Marko Gvozdenović, on the other hand, rented an apartment, it cost the family even more, because the lowest monthly rent for an apartment near that university is 800 euros.
When the minimum costs of living in Milan for a period of three years, in the amount of about 30 thousand euros, are added to these costs, the total education of the younger Gvozdenović could not have cost less than 86.000 euros.
After obtaining a diploma at Bocconi University in 2010, the younger Gvozdenović enrolled in postgraduate studies in international business at the British Hult University in the same year. According to data from that university in London, the total cost of the master's studies that Gvozdenović's son was applying for was around 36 euros. On the website of this university, in addition to information on tuition fees, there are also estimates of the cost of living in London, which include accommodation and basic living needs, and for one year they amount to about 25 thousand euros, which means that Branimir Gvozdenović allocated at least 61 thousand euros.
About 225 thousand euros for daughter Maria's education
Marija Gvozdenović received her high school education partly at St Claire's School in Oxford from 2011 to 2013. Tuition with accommodation, as shown by the official data of that institution, was not less than 90 thousand euros for two years. Other living expenses in Oxford, provided that life was modest, had to amount to at least 20 thousand euros in two years, so the entire education in this high school cost about 110 thousand euros.
Marija Gvozdenović continued her education in 2013 at the City of London University CASS, where the annual tuition is 11.000 euros, or 33.000 for three years. According to available data on accommodation prices, Gvozdenović had to spend at least 52.000 euros in three years in London.
When you add to that the other annual costs of living in London in the amount of around 30.000 euros, Marija's education at City University cost the Gvozdenović family at least 115.000 euros.
Refused to answer why he didn't report "assistance from extended family"
In a short statement to "Vijesti", Gvozdenović said that he had "the help of extended relatives" to educate his children abroad. He refused to answer why he did not report this aid to the Commission for the Prevention of Conflict of Interest at the time, because he was obliged to submit a separate report for all changes in property exceeding five thousand euros.
He did not respond to subsequent calls from the newsroom. In the reports on Gvozdenović's assets and income, there is no information that he received at least 100 euros as a gift. According to Gvozdenović's property records, his children did not own real estate, other income from which they could finance their education, nor were they reported to have received any scholarship.
Gvozdenović did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" about the exact cost of his children's education abroad, as well as whether Marko and Marija were employed during their education, in order to provide themselves with means of living.
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