During the last year, the Ministry of the Interior did not have enough funds in the budget to secure aircraft, which is why they could not be used in extinguishing the recent, large fires.
This is claimed by the department he heads Sergej Sekulovic, stating that they requested money from the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare in the middle of last year, immediately after the adoption of the budget for 2021 and the adoption of the plan for centralized public procurement in the middle of the year.
Minister of Finance Milojko Spajic the previous week, he told the leaders of the MUP, who accused him even then, that they should start reviewing their responsibility as well. He then said that all departments have annual budgets and that they had to plan their priorities.
"People who shift responsibility have not done anything qualitatively better compared to the DPS period, and it's easiest to shift it to someone else - someone else is to blame," Spajić said earlier.
He also said that they suggested to the MUP that they talk to the Army and come up with a plan, but also that their budget was increased for this year.
"The funds allocated to the MUP in the budget for 2021 were not enough to start the procedure for the public procurement of aircraft insurance. The Ministry of Internal Affairs submitted on time, in October 2021, for the consideration of the Government of Montenegro, appropriate acts with an assessment of the state of needs and emergency measures", the MUP replied.
They also claim that the Administration for Cadastre and State Property informed them at the end of last year that they cannot implement public procurement procedures due to administrative and legal regulations due to the entry into the new budget year.
From the institution he heads Koča Đurišić, for days they do not answer the questions of the News regarding the insurance of the state air fleet, but also whether they feel responsible for the inability of the Directorate for Emergency Situations to "raise" the planes and participate in firefighting, which caused enormous damage.
During March, fires raged for days in several locations in Montenegro, and several abandoned houses burned down in the villages of Kolasin. The MUP could not put out the fire from the air, because the aircraft's insurance was not extended.
Sekulović's department answered Vijesti's questions only a day after the Government, at the session held on March 31, 2022, reached a conclusion on the redirection of additional funds for the needs of the MUP's Aviation-helicopter unit.
Who is to blame?
The insurance sector unofficially informed the News that the Administration for Cadastre and State Property is responsible for the fact that the planes were grounded, because they allegedly entrusted the job of insuring all state property to a brokerage house.
Đurišić did not respond to those accusations, and Sekulović's department shifted the responsibility to the MFSS and the Government.
"After the adoption of the budget for 2021 and the adoption of the plan for centralized public procurement in the middle of the year, there were not enough funds for the insurance of the aircraft in the property insurance position. The Ministry of Interior has repeatedly turned to the Ministry of Finance for the provision of funds. The funds were redirected on December 29, 12, as we were informed by the Administration for Cadastre and State Property. You also stated that public procurement procedures cannot be carried out due to administrative and legal regulations due to the entry into the new budget year", the MUP replied.
They also claim that, after the adoption of the budget for 2022, the obligation of the Cadastre and State Property Administration was to adopt a plan for centralized public procurement, so the tender for aircraft insurance was launched after the following procedures were carried out:
"Two pieces of information were sent to the Government of Montenegro in October: Information on the need to improve the situation in the Aviation Helicopter Unit and Information on the procurement of a multi-purpose helicopter, where it is indicated that the budget for 2022 needs to provide 7,3 million euros in order for this unit to basically functioned. Also in this Information, we pointed out that the aircraft insurance expires on December 1, 12, and that it is necessary to provide additional funds in the amount of 2021 euros as soon as possible, which did not happen."
They blame the government, but also the war in Ukraine
They also said that in 2022, after the budget and public procurement plan were adopted, the Administration for Cadastre and State Property initiated the procedure for the procurement of aircraft insurance, the estimated value of which is 490.000 euros.
"Since the war in Ukraine has started in the meantime, and the reinsurers are from the Russian territory, our insurance companies are prohibited from further cooperating with them, while the reinsurers from the Western market are significantly more expensive, so the analysis shows that the funds that the MUP has foreseen for these again will not be enough to conclude the contract.
At the session held on March 31, 2022, the government reached a conclusion on the redirection of additional funds for the needs of the MUP's helicopter unit.
The resources of the Army of Montenegro were included in the action to extinguish the fire that raged during March only after firefighters and citizens had been fighting the fire for a few days.
The fire destroyed large areas under the forest, pastures, low vegetation, and the fire engulfed several uninhabited or occasionally inhabited rural houses.
At the end of March, in the show "Reflektor" on TV Vijesti, the director of the Directorate for Emergency Situations of the MUP Miodrag Bešović he said that they have three helicopters that are relatively old and three airplanes, one of which is working, and two of which are damaged.
Ministry of Interior: Planned and informed the Government about problems on time
Sergej Sekulović's department also claims that brokerage houses, as told to Vijesti from several sources, did not warn them that the airline fleet would not be able to fly due to the expiry of the insurance.
"We did not have this type of warning from the insurance company, nor did we need it, but we planned and anticipated the necessary steps in time so that the aircraft insurance process would be completed in the required period, i.e. in order to avoid a situation where aircraft are not insured. This is supported by the fact that at the beginning of October last year we informed the Government about the problems that could arise and which unfortunately did arise".
This is how the Ministry of Interior responded to Vijesti's question whether the Ministry of Interior and/or the Directorate for Emergency Situations warned Montenegrin brokers that the air fleet would not be able to fly and what was done after those warnings.
Konjević is requesting control hearings due to insurance
The President of the Social Democratic Party, Raško Konjević, yesterday, during the session of the Parliamentary Committee for Security and Defense, proposed that at one of the next sessions, the competent authorities should be heard because of the impossibility of using aircraft during the recent fires.
A member of that Committee, Vladimir Martinović (Democrats), supported his proposal, adding that it must not happen again that, due to fighting between departments, "we cannot make firefighting planes available".
Konjević reasoned that at that session, in addition to the leaders of the MUP, they should also invite those from the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister's Cabinet, because they had mutual accusations in those relations.
"The topic deserves a serious approach, because imagine those experts who failed to insure the planes," Konjević said.
DPS MP Predrag Bošković said that the planes of the Ministry of Defense were not used for the first three days of the fire, because there is no communication between that government department and the MUP.
Martinović replied that Defense Minister Olivera Injac reacted when the MUP asked for help, and that he did not see any responsibility on the part of the MoD.
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