Milovac: We are not surprised by Vuković's reaction, we understand his nervousness

We are not surprised by the reaction of the mayor of Podgorica, Ivan Vuković, to our research, nor even by the narrative he uses, which apparently suits him, Dejan Milovac, director of the Research Center of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS), announced today.

"We are glad that after months of silence on this topic, the procedure for terminating the harmful business, which MANS warned the capital about months ago, has been initiated," said Milovac, reacting to announcement by Vuković.

He said that at the end of August, KfW Bank informed "Vodovod" from Podgorica that it is no longer possible to continue financing the contract with the company "Toškovići" because its owner has been legally convicted, and that this represents a violation of the tender procedure. "The verdict was delivered to KfW bank by MANS, at its request, so that the authorities in that financial institution could become familiar with all the relevant facts before making the above-mentioned decision. Neither the capital nor the Waterworks did this, although they were obliged to know that neither domestic legislation , but also the rules of KfW bank, do not allow the conclusion of contracts with legally convicted persons. We are quite convinced that the contract with "Tošković" would have survived if the investigation by MANS had not happened, because both Vuković and the director of Vodovod Filip Makrid had full information about to who Ivica Tošković is, with whom they signed a contract worth 1.83 million euros," said Milovac.

He added that, since the end of July, MANS has been trying to get a comment from the Capital City and the Waterworks on the research they published.

"But the choice of Vuković and Makrid was silence until the decision of KfW Bank and the publication of our research story. This is why we understand the nervousness that Vuković shows in his public appearance, as well as the unskillful attempt to wrap what is clearly a violation of the law in some kind of political persecution and lynching. As for Vuković himself, he is completely uninteresting to MANS as a politician, but as a public official he must understand that, like his predecessors, he will always be under the scrutiny of MANS, as well as the entire public. We will not comment on the qualifications that Vuković publicly presented in the absence of arguments, because this is a level we do not want to descend to. Milovac said.

He also said that "MANS announced yesterday the filing of criminal charges against Vuković and others involved in this harmful business, which will happen at the beginning of next week."