The Minister of Economic Development, Jakov Milatović, said after the hearing in his capacity as a citizen, at the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica, that he stands by his previously stated position, which he said in May at the session of the Committee for Economy and Budget in the Parliament, when he stated that until now there had been no ministers who did not steal.
Because of that statement, the ministers from the previous government filed a criminal complaint against him: Sanja Damjanović, Predrag Bošković, Suzana Pribilović, Dragica Sekulić and Aleksandar Bogdanović.
"That statement was my personal position, which is based on the perception that a large number of citizens in Montenegro share with me, and at the same time it is based on a large number of relevant international reports from our strategic partners, the European Commission and the USA, the non-governmental sector...", he said. Milatović after the hearing.
He cited parts of the EU Enlargement Strategy from 2018 and the report of the European Commission from last year, which state, among other things, that corruption in Montenegro is present at a high level.
He said that now it is up to the ODT whether to file a criminal complaint against him or to reject it.
He stated that he was glad that he was promptly invited to give a statement in his capacity as a citizen, but also expressed his expectation that the prosecutor's office would also react much more efficiently and promptly to the criminal charges filed by the government and non-governmental organizations in the past period.
"I call on the Prosecutor's Office to work together faster and more efficiently when it comes to prosecuting criminal offenses," said Milatović.
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