For just two days of his stay in Dubai in 2007, with the VIP revolving card of the former president of the country Milo Đukanović About 20.000 euros were spent, and famous world fashion brands were traded - "Yves Saint Laurent", "Dolce e Gabbana", "Louis Vuitton", "Gucci"...
This, claim sources for "Vijesti", is only a part of the expenses from the VIP revolving card that was registered to Đukanović and was active from 2007 to 2015, and which are recorded in the case files at the Special State Prosecutor's Office.
The institution he manages Vladimir Novović formed a criminal case after the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption submitted supporting documents and a decision that the former head of state violated the Law because he did not 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.
The decision states that in the nine-year period during which Đukanović used the card, cash inflows exceeding 10.000 euros were recorded a total of 11 times.
"The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption submitted the files you are interested in to the Special State Prosecutor's Office on February 14 of this year, and a criminal case was formed based on them, in which an investigation is underway," the spokesperson for the SDT, the special prosecutor, officially responded. Vukas Radonjic.
A "Vijesti" source close to the investigation claims that in 2007 the card was also used in a prestigious watch store, where the amount allegedly amounted to around twenty thousand euros.
The card was allegedly used two years later, when a bill was paid at a hotel in Singapore. The same information says that during 2015, payments were also made at stores in Paris and Rome, and again these were famous fashion brands, including the famous jewelry and watch manufacturer - "Cartier"...
Filed a complaint with the Administrative Court
As he announced, in February, Đukanović appealed the Agency's decision to violate the law to the Administrative Court.
The court unofficially confirmed to "Vijesti" that they had received the lawsuit from the former president.
The initiative to initiate proceedings before the Agency regarding the VIP card was requested almost six years ago by the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS). The Agency's previous management initially rejected the possibility of conducting proceedings against Đukanović, to which MANS appealed to the Administrative Court, which ordered the institution to nevertheless investigate the allegations in the NGO's initiative.
Former Director of the Agency Jelena Perović, who will soon be tried on suspicion of abuse of position, began and then discontinued the proceedings, explaining that they would be continued “after the conclusion of the proceedings before the Commercial Court in case P no. 210/21”. MANS appealed this as well.
During that procedure, which was led by Perović, Đukanović made a statement regarding the VIP revolving card, which was stated in the Agency's decision, which was published on February 12. In that statement, he confirmed that he was the owner of the card.
"The public official responded in writing to the Agency's invitation dated 15.07.2021, with document number UPI 02-01-6/14-2019, in which he essentially pointed out 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 pointed out 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 previous proceedings before the Agency.
In a statement from January this year, the latest decision states, Đukanović announced that "a verdict was reached in his favor before the Basic Court in Podgorica, thus factually and legally confirming that he has no debt to 'Atlas Bank'."
He also stated that in the second proceeding, a verdict was also rendered in his favor "due to a violation of personal rights."
"He essentially emphasized that this cannot be a case of concealing assets, because he has repeatedly stated all these facts publicly in his media addresses and appearances, as stated in the Agency's act. He also added that he puts aside the fact that mutual relations of this type between the closest members of the immediate family have not been the focus of interest so far, nor have they been treated in the Agency's practice, so he is happy if this case will further improve the Agency's administrative capacities in preventing corruption," Đukaović was quoted as saying in the Agency's February decision.
Two days after the decision was announced, he announced a lawsuit, but also claimed that the fact that the competent court "rendered two judgments in his favor, which factually and legally confirm that the alleged debt to the bank did not exist and establish a violation of personal rights, due to the presentation of brutal untruths," was ignored.
He didn't report the debts because he "didn't know about them"
The former head of state, according to available official data relating to the period from January 2007 to December 2015, never reported being in debt on any grounds.
During that period, he held several government positions, but also took a break from them. He did not hold government positions from 2010 to 2012, when he again assumed the presidency of the Government until November 2016.
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.
“Vijesti” and CIN-CG announced in January 2019 that the banker is now the accused Dusko Knezevic through Atlas Bank, covered debts from Đukanović's card number VIP revolving card, and that his debt on that card fell under "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.
After CIN-CG wrote, Đukanović confirmed to reporters that he was the cardholder, but claimed that he did not know that the debt existed, that he learned about it from the media and that the bank did not inform him about it. A month later, in February 2019, he said that his son Blažo had repaid the debt to Atlas Bank.
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