The former head of state spent a quarter of a million euros Milo Djukanovic during the nine years he was the owner of an Atlas Bank VIP revolving card.
The card, according to yesterday's decision by the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, was used from January 2007 to the end of 2015, and during that period, cash inflows exceeding 10.000 euros were recorded, a total of 11 times.
Yesterday, the agency announced a decision according to which Đukanović violated the Law because in 2019 he failed to report the amount of 16.741,24 euros - a debt on a VIP revolving card at Atlas Bank, which was allegedly settled by his son that year. Blažo.
They did this six years after the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) initiated the procedure, which all previous managements had avoided.
The Agency obtained analytical data regarding the VIP revolving card during the proceedings, through the case files of the Commercial Court.
"Upon reviewing the case files submitted by the Commercial Court of Montenegro on November 21.11.2024, 2007, at the request of the Agency, it was determined that the VIP revolving card in question existed indisputably, and that it was used in the period from January 2015, where by May 236.195,02, the revenue side generated a turnover of 2015 euros, and the expenditure side in the period until December 249.016,33 amounted to 10.000 euros. "A review of the card's analytics revealed cash payments to credit card accounts in the amount of over 11 euros, a total of 2007 times, as follows: March 20.000 - 2007 euros, September 20.100 - 2008 euros, April 15.000 - 2009 euros, January 16.635 - 2009 euros, April 12.760 - 2009 euros, October 15.000 - 2010 euros, October 18.149.17 - 2010, November 10.000 - 2011 euros, July 10.000 - 2012 euros, July 11.600 - 2015 and May 20.000 - XNUMX euros," the decision states.
Prosecutor's Office to urgently get involved
Vice President of the Agency Council Mladen Tomović It states that ASK "should urgently forward this case to the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) in order to determine whether the case in question contains elements of the criminal offense of money laundering or some other criminal offense for which prosecution is being undertaken ex officio."
"Regardless of the decision's dispositive portion, which established a specific violation of the Law, what is much more interesting to me is page four, which states that in the period from 2007 to 2015, 11 cash payments were made to the aforementioned card in the amount of more than 10.000 euros, or a total of 236.000 euros. As far as I remember, these amounts were not reported in the asset files, and the fact that these were cash payments, in my opinion, could be a criminal offense of money laundering in this specific case," said Tomović.
He also emphasizes that this decision "after six years since the case was before the ASK, signifies a change of course by the new management and decision-making in accordance with the law."
"It is undeniable that, based on everything we know, the previous management tried in every way to protect the highest state officials, including in this particular case."
MANS Director Vanja Ćalović Marković She is convinced that "the 250.000 euros that, at the initiative of MANS six years ago, ASK found on one of Đukanović's cards at Atlas Banka, are only a fraction of the enormous wealth that he has been illegally acquiring for decades."
"With this decision, Montenegrin institutions have for the first time identified traces of Milo Đukanović's illegally acquired property," Ćalović Marković emphasized.
He says that it is extremely important that "at least one institution has finally started working and, based on our initiatives, is discovering traces of that money."
"We expect the prosecution to conduct an urgent investigation into this case and to finally initiate proceedings against Đukanović, instead of putting them in a drawer as in the case of the first million, hidden trusts that MANS discovered within the Pandora papers and many other cases related to Milo Đukanović," said Ćalović Marković.
A life of salary, indebted to no one
In his statement to the Agency, Đukanović confirms that he was the owner of a VIP revolving card:
"The public official responded in writing to the Agency's invitation dated 15.07.2021, document number UPI 02-01-6/14-2019, in which he essentially emphasized that he was the user of the aforementioned card, which he debited like any citizen in a private capacity and for personal expenses, and not for the expenses of any function he performed. He further emphasized that he was not aware of the existence of a monetary debt in the amount of 16.741,24 euros, and that his son B. Đ. paid the aforementioned amount. He added that if he had known about the existence of this debt, he would certainly have reported it in the regular annual report," Đukanović claimed during the proceedings before the Agency.
The obligation to report any debt or claim - principal, interest, repayment period - also existed in the former Law on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest, which was in force from 2009 to January 2016.
The former head of state, according to official data on the Agency's website relating to the period from January 2007 to December 2015, never reported being in debt on any grounds.
During that period, he held several positions - from MP to Prime Minister. He did not hold any government positions from 2010 to 2012, when he again assumed the presidency of the Government until November 2016.
In 2007, according to official data, the Đukanović family had two salaries, or 12.720 euros annually. That year, the former president declared ownership or co-ownership of several companies, but not the income from those companies. Their son Blažo owns two business premises that he received as a gift. Blažo earned 132.000 euros that year from renting out the business premises.
A year later, Đukanović's salary was 1.227 euros, and Lidija Đukanović 1.436. Although he reported co-ownership in companies - a quarter in "Univerzitats", half in "Global Montenero", while "Capitalinvest" is his sole property, Milo Đukanović did not report the profits from his companies to the then Commission for the Prevention of Conflict of Interest that year. Blaž Đukanović is still registered as a gift of business premises, the rent of which flows into the household budget by 11.000 per month.
In 2009, Blažo Đukanović bought an apartment in Žabljak, and the then prime minister's asset declaration states that the property was purchased thanks to income from rent from business premises. Đukanović did not report income from companies that year either, but he did report his salary of 1.256 euros and his wife's earnings of 1.084.
The following year, the then Prime Minister's son moved out of the joint household, so there was no income from renting business premises, and the salaries of the older Đukanovićs did not change. A similar situation remained during 2011, when he was officially out of politics, while for 2012.
Djukanovic reports that he bought real estate in Kočani and is paying it off in installments. A year later - in 2013, Djukanovic returned to the position of Prime Minister, and that year he and his wife earned around 13.000 euros.
Although he is a co-owner or owner of companies, he still does not report his earnings from them. When it comes to official cash flows, there were no changes in 2014, and that year Lidija Đukanović inherited several properties. And in 2015, the last year in which the VIP revolving card was used, the Đukanovićs had no debts and lived off their salaries - the then prime minister received 1.170 euros, and his wife 972.
"Vijesti" and CIN-CG announced back in 2019 that the now-indicted banker Duško Knežević, through Atlas Banka, covered debts from Đukanović's VIP revolving card, and that his debt on that card was classified as "risky loans."
Knežević, or rather his bank, allegedly repaid 2017 euros in February 16.741,24, along with other risky loans that at the time totaled 14 million, and these are privileged individuals.
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