MANS: "Vodovod" knew from day one that Tošković was convicted of tax evasion

Everyone involved in the assignment of work to the company "Toškovići" knew from the first day that it was a company whose owner was legally convicted of creating a criminal organization and tax evasion, and the "timely termination of the contract" that they are now announcing is happening five months after it was concluded. , but also nine months after Tošković was convicted.

This is stated in the statement of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) after of the Capital City that "Vodovod" initiated the contract termination procedure, and that Tošković submitted a certified statement that he has not been convicted.

"The choice of city officials was to remain silent, until MANS informed KfW Bank and received a response from it that further cooperation with convicted persons was not possible. Namely, the information that Ivica Tošković entered into a plea agreement was published in the middle of last year, and that person was convicted by the High Court in Podgorica in November, for the criminal offenses of creating a criminal organization and evasion of taxes and contributions, due to his role in the "Vardar" affair. Information about his arrest, the agreement concluded and, finally, the verdict, were duly published in the Montenegrin media", according to the statement of MANS.

They add that after that, Vodovod issued a call for bids for the construction of sewerage in December 2019, and concluded a contract with Tošković in March of this year.

"Already in May, Vodovod introduced a legally convicted person to work, with appropriate folklore in the form of the presence of Mayor Vuković and his assistants. At the end of August, as MANS has already announced, Mayor Ivan Vuković publicly praised the quality of the construction site as part of the pre-election campaign works and the capacities of the Tošković company. At that moment, Vuković had full information that Tošković was convicted of tax evasion, among other things because he had previously received numerous questions from the Investigation Center regarding the violation of the tender procedure of KfW Bank, which he duly ignored. Ivan Vuković and the director of Vodovod, Filip Makrid, decided to remain silent, until MANS delivered a copy of the judgment of the High Court to KfW Bank in Frankfurt confirming that Tošković was finally convicted. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about a "timely" termination of the contract, for which we are quite certain that it would have survived, if MANS had not informed the creditors of that work, KfW bank, and requested a reaction. This is evidenced by the fact that the workers and machines of Tošković were still present at the construction site at the beginning of this week and were carrying out work."

MANS adds that the claim that a certified statement of the applicant Tošković was submitted as part of the offer, which guarantees that he has not been convicted "does not absolve Vuković and the director of the Waterworks, Filip Makrid, from responsibility".

"Given that this information was easily verifiable, and yet none of the authorities and employees had the need to check it. In the end, the Capital City's claim that Tošković previously "fulfilled all the qualification requirements and was awarded the Contract according to the guidelines and by the rules of the bank" is also incorrect, which KfW Bank itself confirmed after MANS informed it about the omission made by the institutions headed by Vuković and Makrid. Due to everything described and the suspicion of fraud and abuse of authority in the economy, MANS will file a lawsuit against Ivica Tošković a criminal complaint, which will also include Ivan Vuković and Filip Makrid, all because of the suspicion that they have committed criminal acts of abuse of official position and unconscionable work in the service,'' concludes the MANS announcement.