Tsarević emptied the coffers for salaries and works

The Ministry of Finance blocked the accounts of the Municipality of Budva in the amount of 29,3 million euros, i.e. for the amount that was paid from the state budget at the end of last year to the German-Austrian company WTE/EVN based on the activated guarantee that the state gave to the Municipality for a loan for the construction of a plant for wastewater treatment in the capital of tourism.

The temporary measure prohibiting the disposal of money to the Municipality arrived yesterday, the day before the session of the local parliament, where the removal of the mayor and the president of the parliament, Marko Carević and Krsto Radović, will be considered.

In the meantime, Tsarević gave an order to pay wages to workers four days before the deadline and to pay obligations to contractors for capital projects. According to unofficial information, a total of half a million euros was spent for this, which means that Budva's coffers are almost empty.

Yesterday, at the request of the Government department, the Commercial Court ordered that all their accounts be blocked and obliged the Central Bank to ensure that all banks with which the Municipality of Budva has accounts (domestic and foreign currency) are blocked until the payment of 29,3 million euros (with a grace period with interest) for which a temporary measure has been determined, while the state is charged.

The Ministry of Finance said that they were forced to take this measure because previous talks with the representatives of the Municipality of Budva had failed, and they claim that they were also offered state guarantees for a loan with which the Municipality of Budva would pay the debt to the state. The municipality disputes that it owes more than 29 million, stating that it is a state guarantee, given by the Government of Montenegro for the waste water project, and claiming that the contract does not oblige the local administration to settle it in case of activation.

Tsarević: Political game

Budva Mayor Marko Carević (DF) assessed the decision to block the Municipality's account as shameful. He said that he ordered the immediate payment of wages to all workers, which was done, as well as obligations to contractors for capital projects. Tsarević said that he believes that it is a "synchronized action of the state, the court and the DPS to overthrow the government in Budva". The initiative to dismiss the mayor and head of parliament was signed by 17 councilors - from DPS, Social Democrats, Montenegrin and independent councilor Stevan Džaković, which is the majority in parliament.

Former mayor Dragan Krapović (Democrats) assessed that it was obvious that the government intended to "pay the citizens of Budva for the money of the organized criminal group (OKG) from Budva to the end". That group, led by former DPS official Svetozar Marović, admitted to theft in connection with the waste water treatment plant.

"Brilliant events in which the DPS Government, headed by Milo Đukanović at the time, took part. The government then approved the entire project and a guarantee in the amount of 29 million euros signed by then Minister of Finance Igor Lukšić. After EVN and WTE activated the guarantee, the Government pompously announced criminal charges to be filed by the Protector of Property and Legal Interests. Now those reports have been reduced to a lawsuit against the citizens of Budva," said Krapović.

Krapović: SDT is silent, and the Municipality has not responded to the lawsuit

He emphasized that the case related to the construction of a wastewater treatment plant has been pending for years in the Special Prosecutor's Office (SDT), which did "absolutely nothing to protect Budva and Montenegro from the criminal activities of OKG Budva in cooperation with EVN and WTE".

Krapović said that with the arrival of Tsarević as mayor, the acting attorney Goran Rodić's power of attorney was revoked without explanation and the case was assigned to attorney Vladan Bojić, who failed to respond to the Government's lawsuit submitted to the Commercial Court on May 19 this year, which led to the blocking of the account.

"Municipal secretary for property protection Nikola Plamenac did not even see the lawsuit, which is inadmissible in my opinion. According to my information, the chief consultant of the Municipality consulting company "Dr. Duhovnik" has also been dismissed. I leave it to the citizens and the public to make their own judgement. By acting like this, the Government and Prime Minister Duško Marković showed themselves in full light. At the end of May, they managed to block the account of the Municipality, which accounts for half of Montenegro's tourism, but they did not manage to do it alone, but with the obvious help of Bojić. Finally, it is clear that if there is a change of government in Budva, the new criminal authority of the DPS and the Government of small format and reach will quickly reach an agreement to unblock the account. The municipality of Budva now has a new deadline for objecting to the adopted measure, and it is certain that the measure will be repealed, provided that we do not miss this deadline either," added Krapović.

The German-Austrian concern left the facility on January 31, although they reached an agreement with the Municipality last year to manage it until March 31 of this year. The former DPS government did not pay them a single cent, and their successors paid the Germans about 13 million euros in liabilities. Krapović and Carević reported the case to SDT due to numerous deficiencies and irregularities that were discovered during the supervision of the project.

MF: They can pay our debt with a loan, with a state guarantee

The department, which is managed by the Minister of Finance Darko Radunović, said that, after paying the guarantee, they turned to the Municipality of Budva twice (December 30, 2019 and February 21, 2020) with a request to regulate the obligation to the state, as well as that The municipality is left with room to propose a way to pay off the debt. The Ministry emphasized that meetings were held where it was discussed how the state could help the Municipality to settle the debt.

"In accordance with those discussions, the Budget Law for 2020 provides for the issuance of a state guarantee for a loan that the Municipality of Budva would take from one of the commercial banks, which would be used to settle the debt to the state. However, despite these efforts, there was no response from the Municipality of Budva, so the Ministry was forced to start the procedure for collecting that claim through the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro. According to the information at our disposal, the Protector initiated proceedings by submitting a lawsuit to the Commercial Court with the aim of collection," the Ministry of Finance told "Vijesta" yesterday.