ASK "chased" the winner of the apartment for ten months

It took the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption 10 months to make a second decision on the violation of the Law on the Prevention of Corruption against a public official who received an apartment under favorable conditions - the former president of the Constitutional Court, Dragoljub Drašković.

She did that after "Vijesti" asked her about it.

According to the document that was disclosed by the Government Commission for Housing Issues 11 months ago on the order of Prime Minister Duško Marković, since the beginning of his mandate, about a hundred people have received apartments or housing loans under favorable conditions.

Among those who received a 40.000 euro housing loan in that period is the then director of ASK Sreten Radonjić.

After public pressure, the Agency announced 10 months ago that five had violated the Law in the part concerning the timely reporting of property increases, of which the statute of limitations had expired in three cases.

The law stipulates that an increase in property worth more than 5.000 euros must be reported within 30 days from the date of registration of ownership rights, and those who do not do so on time will be fined up to 2.000 euros.

At the beginning of December, the Agency passed the first of the expected two decisions on violation of the Law - in the case of the director of the Special Hospital for Lung Diseases in Brezovik, Gordana Reljić.

The Governmental Commission for Housing Issues granted her a 78-square-meter apartment in February of last year.

"In the second case, an administrative procedure was carried out and a decision on its outcome will be announced as soon as possible", it is stated in the answer that the Agency submitted on Thursday to the question of "Vijesti" when the decision is expected.

In the announcements of the Agency, it was emphasized that this is a public official from the field of justice.

Then, on Friday afternoon, she posted a decision on her website, which determined that the former head of the Constitutional Court, Dragoljub Drašković, violated the law because he did not register the 109-square-meter apartment on time.

The Government Commission granted him an apartment at the same meeting as Reljić's, in mid-February last year.

Drašković reported in his property record that he will pay 109 euros for the 24.290 square meter apartment.

Since the procedure was initiated ten months ago, the director left the Agency, two acting directors were appointed and four unsuccessful competitions were organized for the selection of his successor. The fifth is in progress.

Commenting on the fact that it took the Agency ten months to complete two cases, the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) believes that this is proof of the Agency's passivity.

The director of the Research Center, Dejan Milovac, says that the institution has done very little so far to determine which of the public officials failed to report the increase in assets on this basis.

"For almost a year now, the Agency practically refuses to apply its powers and implement a fairly simple procedure of checking the property records of public officials who received a loan or an apartment from the Government. Particularly problematic is the fact that the statute of limitations has run for certain public officials, so the Agency cannot initiate misdemeanor proceedings even if it wanted to. This practice is completely unacceptable, but also a very possible scenario in which the Agency's passivity will ultimately lead to a very small number of public officials being prosecuted for obvious violations of the Law," said Milovac for "Vijesti".

He adds that this situation is another confirmation that the Agency does its work "selectively, at best superficially".

"The Agency's selectivity in dealing with applications, but also in its proactive work, was noted not only by the domestic public, but also by relevant international addresses, and that institution continues to exist as an obstacle to the successful fight against conflicts of interest and corruption," he concludes.

Drašković: I reported everything in the card

In the decision made on Friday, the Agency found that Drašković did not register the apartment he received from the state within the legal deadline.

During the hearing, Drašković repeatedly emphasized that he did not violate the law, stressing that he acquired the apartment on March 19 and properly reported everything a week later in his regular annual property register. He added that it contained all the details regarding the increase of the property.

Regarding the remark that he did not submit a special card, he pointed out that there is no special form for reporting the increase in property, but a general form is used, as in the case of the regular annual property card.

The Agency, however, assessed that "the statements that he had learned about the purchase and sale earlier were without influence."

"For the simple reason that such reporting of certain factual actions in the direction of the conclusion and the conclusion of the contract itself, are not relevant from the point of view of the cited provision of the Law on Prevention of Corruption, because the legal change and acquisition of ownership of real estate occurred later - on March 27, 2019, and before on this date he did not become the owner," states the decision signed by the new Acting Director of the Agency, Luka Anđelić.