President of the Women's Association of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Jovana Dragović she did not report the assets of her husband, a deputy of the same party, to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption Darko Dragović, despite the legal obligation.
The agency is already prosecuting the MP for years of not declaring his assets, and his spouse could suffer a similar fate.
The Agency told "Vijesti" that they will carry out a detailed check of the data submitted by Jovana Dragović on April 1, after assuming the position of Acting Director General of the Directorate for the Accession of Montenegro to the EU and the EU Acquis in the Ministry of European Affairs.
"In relation to the allegations presented in the questions, the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption will carry out a detailed check of the accuracy and completeness of this person's report, and the public will be informed about the outcome of the procedure after it is completed," the Agency replied to "News".
The Law on the Prevention of Corruption obliges public officials to submit, in addition to their own reports, to the Agency data on property and income, that is, their common-law spouse, same-sex partner, and children if they live in the same household.
Special prosecutor Vukas Radonjic recently announced that the Special State Prosecutor's Office is investigating whether Darko Dragović committed the criminal offense of money laundering.
He did this after "Vijesti" published indicative data that the former head of the Skaljar criminal clan, Jovan Vukotić, allegedly registered two apartments on the coast in his name Dragović, which the PES official denied.
However, he did not answer why the Vukotićs rented those apartments and while they were still formally registered in his name, he defended himself from something that was not even written - that he had direct contact with the now deceased Vukotić.
Both apartments were still registered in his name yesterday, despite claims that he "returned" them to the former owner, a citizen of Danilovgrad. ML
Neither Jovana nor Darko Dragović answered the questions of "Vijesti" until last night. Questions were sent to Dragović's email, but also to the email of the PR department of PES.
It is not in the records of ASK
Dragović's property and income reports are not in the Agency's database, even though he has been a local and state official for many years.
He explained it as "negligence", for which he was sanctioned with a fine, stressing that he followed the Law on Prevention of Corruption. He claimed that he submitted the report for last year to the Agency "with a delay".
This, however, is denied by the Agency's data.
"On November 1, 2024, the public official to whom your question refers did not submit the regular annual report on income and assets for the year 2023 to the Agency's archive, in the manner prescribed by the Law on Prevention of Corruption," they replied to "News" ” from the institution he manages Dušan Drakić.
They emphasize that the Agency has filed two requests to initiate misdemeanor proceedings against Dragović, a member of the Parliament of Montenegro and a councilor in the Municipal Assembly of Danilovgrad.
"The first request was submitted to the Court for Misdemeanors on May 11, 2023, due to failure to fulfill the legal obligation to submit a regular annual report on income and assets for 2022, in the capacity of councilor. That procedure ended with the decision of the Court for Misdemeanors in Podgorica - Department in Danilovgrad, by which the defendant was fined. The second request, submitted on May 29, 2024, refers to the failure to submit the annual report for 2023 as a member of the Parliament of Montenegro. This procedure is currently ongoing before the Court for Misdemeanors in Podgorica - Danilovgrad division. The Agency will inform the public in a timely manner about the outcomes of these procedures", the Agency states.
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They emphasize that Dragović is not in the records of that institution.
"According to our records, the public official to whom your question refers has not yet submitted any report in accordance with the Law on Prevention of Corruption. For the valid submission of the report, it is mandatory to complete all steps prescribed by law, including printing and signing the report with a barcode, and its physical delivery to the Agency's archives. Only after the report is filed, the Agency performs an administrative check and validation, which guarantees the accuracy of the electronic report. Without meeting these conditions, the report is not formally considered submitted," they explained.
Darko Dragović did not answer the questions related to the submission of reports to the Agency for the period from 2018 to 2024. He did not answer the question whether he did it in the manner prescribed by the Law, including printing and signing the report with a barcode, as well as physically delivering it to the Agency's archive, but also whether and when he would do it.
Jovana Dragović did not answer the question why, as part of her report, she did not submit data on her husband's assets, as required by law.
"Report submitted"
"It is not true that I did not submit the annual property report to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption for 2023. Due to my carelessness, I was late in submitting the report and because of that I will be liable as a misdemeanor, however, the report was submitted and all the information about my financial circumstances was entered in it", claimed the deputy in his response, which he submitted on October 23.
Dragović then announced that, among other things, it was recorded that in 2023 two disputed apartments in Kotor and Budva were registered in his name, but also that there is a debt in the amount of 120.000 euros.
He announced that he acquired everything legally and that there is a "valid and indisputable legal basis" for everything. He called on the relevant state authorities to check "everything he has acquired in his life".
"Regarding the disputed apartments, I responsibly claim that I had absolutely no agreement with the now deceased Jovan Vukotić to allegedly register his real estate in my name, and that is a blatant lie. I had an agreement regarding the purchase of disputed apartments only and exclusively with the authorized person of the seller... I inherited a lot of real estate after the death of my parents. Among other things, I was the owner of a cadastral plot in the industrial zone of Danilovgrad with an area of approx. 3.200m2, the market value of which in 2018 was around 120.000 euros. My plan was to buy other real estate for the value of that real estate. That's why I reached an agreement with ML that his company would sell me two apartments in Kotor and Budva, and that I would pay him the purchase price after the sale of the land or that I would subsequently transfer ownership of the land to him," he said at the time.
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