Consultant for science in the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vladimir Drekalović claims that some members of the Steering Committee of the international SEEIIST project (The South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies) accuse the former administration, headed by the former Minister of Science Sanja Damjanović, of lack of transparency , abuse and clientelism during the representation of Montenegro in the project, in which several countries of Southeast Europe participate.
Damjanović, however, in her answers to "Vijesti" questions, rejects the accusations, stressing that it is a project that she herself brought to this region - from the idea to concrete 6,5 million euros in donations from European Union funds for the development of the second phase with the help of 18 European institutions and clinics from 14 countries. She appealed to the Montenegrin public not to use SEEIIST, as well as other important international projects, for the sake of cheap political points in the face of local elections.
Drekalović, on the other hand, warns that "there are serious accusations by the members of the SEEIIST Board of Directors regarding the non-transparency, abuses and clientelism of the recent Montenegrin representative in the project, the former Minister of Science". "Citizens of Montenegro should have information about how its representatives represent it in the project, how they influence decision-making and the use of international funds, especially funds taken from the budget of Montenegro. What is known so far is that at least 240.000 euros have been spent so far from the budget of Montenegro, under the pretext of implementing the project. It is quite justified to say 'under pretext', because there is irrefutable evidence that shows that the former Minister of Science grossly abused her position, arbitrarily and unconscionably spending the money of all the citizens of Montenegro", claims Drekalović.
According to him, the international project in which several countries of Southeast Europe participate was started at the end of 2017 with the intention of creating a regional center for the treatment of so-called Hadron Cancer Therapy and for fundamental research with accelerated ions on the territory of one of the participating Balkan states.
"The idea is deeply noble, ambitiously conceived and useful for all the countries of the region. How are things with that project today? For more than three years of the project's duration, the construction of the center is not even in sight, nor is it even known when the procedure will be initiated on the basis of which the host country in which the center would be built would be determined. The financial flows related to SEEIIST are hidden even from the members of the SEEIIST Board of Directors. Even the honorary member of SEEIIST, Hervig Schopper, the long-time director of CERN and the creator (father) of the SEEIIST project, knows nothing about this. Since insight into financial transactions is not provided to all members of the SEEIIST Board of Directors, they do not know, for example, how and according to which criteria money from partner institutions in the project, GSI (Germany) and Slovenian Engineering Academy (Slovenia), was spent. for the technical development of the SEEIIST project. Only Cern, as one of the three partners in the project, provided a detailed financial report", claims the consultant for science in MPNKS.
Scientific conference in "Splendid" worth 50.000 euros
Drekalović says that there is a lot of evidence for his claims, and that one of them is the gathering, held at the "Splendid" hotel in Bečići from September 17 to 19, 2019, dedicated to the SEEIIST project, for which more than 50.000 euros were spent from the budget Montenegro.
"This fact might not be so interesting if the money of all citizens was not spent in an unusual way. Instead of being used for relevant activities related to Hadron Cancer Therapy, it is focused on things that have nothing to do with this form of treatment. In addition to the usual expenses related to accommodation, food, drinks and transportation of guests, as well as equipping the ceremonial hall, the Ministry of Science spent as much as 5.945 euros on fictitious team building and a fictitious excursion for the participants. The gala dinner was paid for all participants, which is very interesting, in cents in the same amount as their fictitious 'recreational' activities, so 5.945 euros. The item 'registration fee', on which the Ministry of Science, as the organizer of the meeting, spent 5.872,5 euros deserves special attention in the balance of costs. In the scientific, and not only scientific, public it is known that the registration fee is the amount of money that the participant pays to the organizer of a seminar, symposium, conference... so that the organizer of that event partially or fully covers the expenses of the participants at that event. Therefore, since the Ministry of Science is the organizer of the event, the participants of the meeting could only pay the registration fee to the Ministry of Science, if the Ministry wanted the participants of the meeting to co-finance their participation in the event. The organizer of the meeting does not pay the registration fee to anyone, so it is not clear what activity the 5.872,5 euros were spent on," says Drekalović and adds that all payment orders were signed by former minister Damjanović and the secretary of the ministry Smiljana Prelević:
"Finally, let's round off the presented data with one more extremely interesting piece of information - at the meeting in Bečići, the guests at the expense of the citizens of Montenegro were persons unknown to the organizers, who have nothing to do with the project. Namely, several guests who were invited to the gathering arrived accompanied by their husbands and women whose identities the organizers had no information about, who had nothing to do with the gathering, and for whom the Ministry of Science also paid all the costs of staying in the hotel out of the citizens' pockets. Montenegro. Not all female escorts had the same status - some escorts were only paid amounts worth around 200 euros from the budget of Montenegro, and some twice as much. It is not clear by what criteria the Ministry of Science and Minister Damjanović were guided during such financing of the companions of the meeting guests. Also, it is not clear whether Minister Damjanović offered all the guests the financing of companions, or whether this offer only applied to selected guests".
Drekalović also says that the biggest offense committed in the organization of this gathering was the fact that it was done outside the Law on Public Procurement.
"In accordance with the Law on Public Procurement, which was valid at that time, for the procurement of services that exceed 15.000 euros, a tender must be announced in order to select the most favorable bidder in the public bidding. The specific procurement for the whole of 2019, on all grounds financed by the Ministry of Science, amounted to 64.295,69 euros. Of this amount, only the invoice in the amount of EUR 8.950 was legally implemented through the procedure of public procurement of small values, while EUR 55.345,69 was illegally paid to a private company. One of the imperatives of public procurement is that they must not be shared for the same purpose, which in this case was done in such a way as to illegally pay 55.345,69 through multiple invoices for the same expenses," claims Drekalović.
Damjanović: This project is above all politics
Former Minister of Science Sanja Damjanović told "Vijesta" that the SEEIIST project is "a beacon not only of Montenegro but also of the region of South-Eastern Europe with around 40 million inhabitants, and the most serious scientific research and medical project for our region".
"Such labels will not cause me any harm, and they will do a lot to Montenegro. Instead of working together and leaving the European cancer treatment center at Ćemovsko polje behind us for generations, we choose according to the cost list of the scientific-international conference organization, which are accessible and transparent for a cent. I am afraid that due to populism, headlines for the needs of daily politics, the project that I developed day and night and painstakingly for years and kept connected to Montenegro will definitely slip away to another country. Not to mention the investment of a quarter of a billion euros from European funds," said Damjanović.
She reminded that SEEIIST today has a pan-European dimension - it is important for the whole of Europe.
"It is about a project that I brought to this region myself, from the idea to concrete 6,5 million euros of donations from the European Union funds for the development of the second phase with the help of 18 European institutions and clinics from 14 countries. So, should I explain to the public today why Montenegro started this project? Do I have to explain why, through the organization of two international conferences, we received the first financial support of the European Commission in the amount of one million euros (Forum in Trieste where Montenegro was the sponsor of this event together with the International ICTP Institute in Trieste), and then marked the second phase through kick -off event in Budva ("Splendid") in order to position Montenegro as the most serious candidate for the location of the construction of SEEIIST", she asks.
Damjanović states that a small amount of national budget funds were allocated for the SEEIIST project.
"Which gave me the opportunity to use them in the direction of positioning Montenegro as a leader in this project. I have already told the public that in four years we have invested about 200.000 euros, and the result is not only 6,5 million euros from the European Commission, but also the positioning of the SEEIIST project in the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans, which will enable an investment for its realization of 250 million euros. So, it is not about a primitive interpretation of the international conference, but about the chance to treat our cancer patients (especially the most vulnerable such as children and pregnant women) with the most modern method provided by SEEIIST. What I expected from Montenegro was full support for this project, because I felt it. My big disappointment is the individual representatives of the executive power to whom I presented the SEEIIST project and offered cooperation, because it is a project of strategic value not only for Montenegro but for the entire region, and who are now spinning primitive information for the sake of daily political points. This project is above all politics and that's how we should all treat it," says Damjanović.
He also points out that the expenditure of funds for the organization of this conference was purposeful and not the least bit wasteful.
"How does he want to present the current MPNKS?" The complete expenditure of funds related to the organization of the conference, travel expenses and accommodation for distinguished international participants, food, excursions, promotional material, audio-video equipment and the usual expenses that accompany the organization of a conference at such a high production level. The mentioned team building is only part of the content on the sidelines of this international scientific event with clear strategic decisions for the future of the project. The entire conference was recorded by the cameras of all media in Montenegro as well as many in the region. Special scientific shows were also made on the occasion of this conference. Anyone who has been present at a high-level international conference understands what kind of events it is. Taking into account the importance of this conference, the renowned guests and the large number of participants, the cost of organizing it is far below the European level", concluded Damjanović.
Bonus video:
