Čizmović controls himself, Kontić's biography marked as a secret

The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) initiated proceedings against public officials from the Institute for Medicines and Medical Devices - Acting Director Mire Kontić and members of the Management Board of that institution Lidija Čizmović.

This is what the Agency replied to "Vijesta".

"As one of those two procedures is based on a whistleblower's report, the Agency is obliged to act in accordance with the law regulating the confidentiality of data, so we are not able to provide you with more information", writes ASK in its reply.

Part of the employees sent an initiative to the KAS to initiate proceedings against Čizmović, who is currently one of the managers at CInMED, claiming that in July, although she was employed at that institution as the manager of the Center for Medical Devices, she was appointed as a member of the Management Board (MB) as a representative the founder, that is, the Government.

"We are of the opinion that this is a flagrant violation of the law and provisions that normatively specify cases of conflict of private and public interest. We are of the opinion that this is an unprecedented case in the procedures for constitution of administrative boards by the Government and other authorities. We are aware that the political interests of a political party, and the highest representatives of the executive power, are behind the election of the appointed member of the Supervisory Board, which resulted in the illegal election of the acting director of the Institute, Mira Kontić, who does not meet the requirements of Article 15 of the Law on Medicines. It is a significant fact that the session of the Board of Directors on August 23.08.2021, XNUMX. year, at which the Acting Director was elected, was presided over by Čizmović. We suspect that in this way she subordinated her private interest to the public one," states the letter from some of the employees.

CInMED replied to "Vijesta" that Čizmović was elected as a member of the Supervisory Board, that she was not elected as a representative of the employees, but they did not specify whose interests she represents in that governing body. They also said that there is no conflict of interest regarding an employee of CInMED being a member of the Board of Directors at the same time and explained that due to a lack of staff, she is "temporarily performing the duties of the manager" of the Center for Traffic and Safe Use of Medicines.

"Article 12 paragraph 2 of the Medicines Act stipulates that the president, members of the Management Board and the director cannot perform, in their own name and for their own account, as well as in the name and for the account of another legal or natural person, production, circulation and testing activities drugs and medical devices, nor can they have any other personal interest (ownership, shares, membership in a management body or contractual relationship) with a person engaged in these activities, about which they sign a statement. From the aforementioned provision of the law, it can be concluded that no conflict of interest is prescribed in terms of employment at the Institute. For more detailed information, please contact the competent Government. At the time of her appointment, the mentioned employee was the head of the center for medical devices, which is the highest organizational unit of the Institute. In accordance with the new Rulebook on the internal organization of workplaces, an employee was permanently assigned to the position of head of the Department for monitoring consumption and determining the maximum prices of medicines (lower organizational unit). "Due to the lack of staff, the employee temporarily (for three months) performs the duties of the head of the Center," the answer reads.

Čizmović requested the dismissal of the employee representative in the Board of Directors

According to the Law on Medicines and the Statute of CInMED, the Management Board of that institution has a president and four members who are appointed and dismissed by the Government for a period of four years, and who are appointed from among experts in the fields of health, veterinary medicine and environmental protection, while one member is a representative of the employees who is proposed by CInMED.

At the session in July, the government elected a doctor as president Vasilija Đurašković from the Clinical Center, and for members also a doctor from that institution Marka Stoiljkov, a professor at the Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology, and Čizmović, who works in CInMED in a managerial position, while she was appointed employee representative Milena Ljeskovic.

According to the documents that "Vijesti" had access to, it was Čizmović, together with her colleagues from the Board of Directors, who previously instructed the acting director to dismiss the member Milena Lješković and implement the procedure for a new employee representative in that body.

The documents do not show on what basis this initiative was sent to the acting director, and not to the Government, which appointed Lješković to the position, and proposed CInMED based on the votes of at least three quarters of the employees.

As the reason for the dismissal, they stated that Lješković stated that she "put confidential information to the expert-scientific committee", which, as they claim, then reached the media and individual deputies. Colleagues complain that she "independently appeared in the media and expressed views contrary to the decisions adopted by the majority of the Supervisory Board". In the initiative, the acting director stated that Lješković also "behaved inappropriately at the meetings".

The secret reasons for the proceedings against Lješković

Yesterday, CInMED did not answer why the management initiated disciplinary proceedings against Lješković, who is the representative of the employees in the Management Board, but referred to the confidentiality of data.

"In accordance with Article 147 paragraph 1 of the Labor Law, the Institute's Board of Directors launched an initiative to initiate the procedure for determining responsibility for the violation of work obligations of certain employees. The director is obliged to deliver a written warning to the employee about the existence of a reason for imposing a measure for the violation of the work obligation within 15 days from the day of learning that a violation of the work obligation has been committed, that is, of accepting the initiative. The procedure for determining responsibility is ongoing. However, the employer is obliged to protect the interests of the employees, so the data from the personal files of the employees is marked with a degree of secrecy internally. Namely, in accordance with Article 10 of the Rulebook on confidentiality of data and business secrets, secret data of the "INTERNAL" level of secrecy is represented in particular by the following data and documents: data from personnel files of employees, data on earnings, all types of social and material assistance and other incomes of employees", the answer states.

At the end of August, the Board of Directors abolished the conditions that the director of CInMED must have a health-related faculty and a scientific title or specialization in healthcare, and appointed lawyer Mira Kontić as acting director, whom some media and MPs claim is close to the prime minister. Zdravko Krivokapić, whose family members are in the pharmaceutical business.

The professional-scientific committee of the institution claimed that the initiative to amend the Rulebook on the internal organization and systematization of workplaces is not in accordance with the Statute and Rules of Procedure of that institution, that the members of the Board of Directors are violating the Law and that Kontić does not even meet the legal requirement that the manager has at least five years of experience in professional and managerial positions in the field of regulation of drugs and medical devices.

It is not possible to verify these allegations, because the Board of Directors, in accordance with the new rulebook, declared the personal data of employees, including public officials of that institution, confidential.