The council of Radio Television Podgorica (Gradska TV) will elect a full-term director at tomorrow's session, and according to unofficial information, the candidates for that position are a long-time journalist and former general director of the Public Service Andrijan Kadi and current acting director of Gradska Vladimir Otašević.
The competition for the position of director was announced on January 12, and closed 15 days later.
The term of office of the executive director lasts four years, and the same person can be appointed a maximum of two consecutive times.
According to the amendments to the Decision on the Establishment of the Limited Liability Company Local Public Broadcaster "Radio Televizija Podgorica", in addition to the general ones, candidates must also meet special conditions.
This means, among other things, that the candidate has at least ten years of experience with a university degree, of which at least five years in management positions in areas relevant to the performance of activities...
The decision also foresees prohibitions. Thus, persons whose spouses or common-law partners and life partners are share owners, shareholders, members of management bodies, members of supervisory bodies, employees... in legal entities, engaged in the activity of providing audio-visual media, cannot be elected as members of the Council or directors. (AVM) service.
This very limitation was the subject of discussion in the previous days between the non-governmental organization Media Centar and Otašević.
The Media Center has repeatedly warned that Otašević's wife was until recently the co-owner of 90 percent of Montenegro Press Company doo, which, among other things, offered AVM services through the Press portal. They also questioned the date when Otašević submitted a statement during the competition procedure that he was not subject to that restriction.
Otašević replied that his wife was a co-owner of the Press portal, i.e. the company Montenegro Press Company, which is behind that portal, but that "according to the current legislation in Montenegro, portals do not belong to the activity of providing audio-visual media (AVM) services even according to the Law on Media nor the Law on Electronic Media". He also announced a lawsuit against the director of the NGO, Goran Đurović.
The media center has provided the media with more evidence, as they claim, that the Press AVM portal offered services during the 2022 and 2023 election campaigns.
Otašević was elected acting director in mid-December, and it was then that certain members of the Council of RTV Podgorica questioned the fact that he did not meet the requirement of ten years of experience with a higher education, five of which in managerial positions.
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