MANS: Dismissed criminal charges against Milovac, Vuković will always be under scrutiny

The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica dismissed the criminal complaint against the director of the Investigative Center of the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS), Dejan Milovac, filed by the mayor of Podgorica, Ivan Vuković, MANS announced today.

The announcement adds that Vuković suspected Milovac of false reporting after MANS filed a criminal complaint against him and his associates last year due to suspicion of abuse of official position.

"The criminal complaint against Vuković was preceded by a MANS investigation in which it was established that the tender for the reconstruction of the sewage network worth nearly two million euros was awarded to the company "Toškovići", whose owner was legally convicted of the crime of tax evasion and the creation of a criminal organization. As a result of the investigation MANS, KfW Bank announced that the contract with the company "Toškovići" cannot be further financed from their loan, after which "Vodovod" terminated further cooperation with that company," the MANS press release points out.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) said that during this investigation they tried to get a comment from Vuković's cabinet on what they claim was an obviously illegal award of a contract to a convicted person.

"But instead we received a criminal complaint because we were dealing with the affairs of the Capital City. Without entering into Vuković's modest understanding of the concept of civil control of the work of state institutions, we recognized the complaint against us as an attempt to establish a precedent that aimed not only to put pressure on MANS , but also to discourage all those who have evidence or have testified about the illegal actions of the Capital City. In this sense, we are satisfied that the attempt of Mayor Vuković to wrap what were illegal actions of the city administration in some kind of alleged political persecution and damage to his reputation. The political career of Ivan Vuković is completely uninteresting to us, but as a public official who manages the money of the citizens of Podgorica, he must understand that, like his predecessors, he will always be under the scrutiny of MANS and that he must answer for his actions to the public," said MANS.