In the Capital City in 2024, a total of 17 euros was paid out as compensation to 125.665,99 former officials.
All were entitled to compensation in the amount of their last salary pursuant to Article 60 of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees. This article stipulates that a person who has not been assigned, within one year from the date of termination of his/her mandate, is entitled to compensation in the amount of the salary he/she had in the last month of performing the duties of the position to which he/she was appointed or appointed. The right to compensation may be extended for another year if the right to a pension is acquired during that time.
"Although public attention is mainly focused on state officials, the reality is that local governments also pay compensation to former officials, even when there is no real need for it. This further burdens the budgets of municipalities that are already facing financial problems, while at the same time citizens are deprived of better infrastructure, better public services and other development projects," he emphasizes. Nikola Đurašević, program associate at the Center for Civic Education (CCE).
INJAC WILL BE REWARDED FROM THIS YEAR
This opportunity was taken advantage of in Podgorica by, among others, Marjan Juncaj, former manager of the Capital City, Časlav Vešović, deputy mayor, and Đorđe Suhih, President of the Capital City Assembly.
He also received compensation from Mr. Goran Janković, who was relieved of his duties as Commander of the Capital City Protection and Rescue Service, as well as Filip Aleksic, the chief city architect whose mandate ended at his personal request.
Also on the list are: Miloš Novović, Chief of the Municipal Police, Milan Supic, Director of the Local Public Transport Administration, Stasa Sestovic, Deputy Protector of Property and Legal Interests of the Capital City, Džemal Lekić, director of the Information System Center, as well as Mitar Jaksic, Assistant Director for Field Control and General and Legal Affairs Department of the Local Public Revenue Administration of the Capital City.
This legal possibility was also used by the heads of some secretariats, such as Dragice Milacic, Secretary of the Secretariat for Local Self-Government, Zekerija Fatić, Secretary of the Secretariat for Business Community Support, Marko Rakočević, Secretary of the Secretariat for Communal Affairs, Lazarele Kalezić, Secretary of the Secretariat for Transport, Tatjana Krivokapic, Assistant Secretary of the Secretariat for Transport, Milka Scepovic, Assistant Secretary in the Secretariat for Communal Affairs.
In 2025, the former mayor will also receive an official's compensation Olivera InjacThe Election and Appointments Committee of the Capital City Assembly, at a session held in mid-January, decided that the former mayor of Podgorica will receive compensation for a period of one year in the amount of her last monthly salary.
The sum of 125.000 euros paid in the Capital City in 2024 to 17 former officials is only a fraction of what is paid for these purposes in local governments, says Đurašević.
"It would be particularly interesting to see the structure of those who were paid this, but also to know the reasons for their leaving office. Namely, it is not uncommon for this to be done on purpose, that is, for parties to make certain changes before the elections precisely to ensure that a larger number of their officials or members are provided for. It would also be very interesting to have a cross-section of how much time, for example, those officials in the Capital spent in the position for which they later received the privilege of a year of paid leave," explains Đurašević.
THREE YEARS WITHOUT REACTION FROM THE AUTHORITIES
In the Municipality of Kotor, they received compensation Snezana Jovanić, Director of the Directorate for Development and Construction of Kotor, Rato Brajković, Assistant Director of the Directorate for Planning and Construction, Vladimir Jokic, former and current Mayor, Vice Mayors Nebojsa Ševaljević i Siniša Kovačević.
Brajković received a total of 12.631,49 euros, Jokić was paid 1.413,28 euros in December, Ševaljević 1413,28, Kovačević 1.416,67 euros, and Jovanić collected 1.331,81 euros.
In Herceg Novi, they received official compensation during 2024. Milan Isaković, Secretary of the Secretariat for Ecology and Energy Efficiency, Marina Sekulić, chief city architect and Borislav Obradovic Acting Chief of the Communal Police.
In Tivat, they acquired the right to compensation Rita Mitrović, Acting Director of the Directorate for Property and Legal Relations of the Municipality of Tlvat, Andrija Petkovic, Vice President of the Municipality, Patricija Pobrić, Manager of the Municipality of Tivat, and Marko Popovic, chief city architect.
The Municipality of Tuzi paid on the same basis in 2024. Sabahet Spahić 4382,58 euros, a Haris Ramović 4.281 euro.
The civil servant compensation in the Municipality of Žabljak in 2024 was received by: Vasilije Jaksic, Milika Ostojic i Vidoje TomčićThey were paid a total gross amount of 41.297,96 euros.
In Mojkovac, the official's compensation was paid Jovic Markovic i Dear Zejak.
In Nikšić, she only received compensation Biljana Vučurović, former chief administrator. She was paid a gross amount of 5.125 euros.
In 2024, he only received an official's compensation in Andrijevica. Mladen Djukic, former president of the Municipal Assembly,
Officials' compensation was not paid in Bijelo Polje, Plužine and Šavnik.
Civil service salaries have been in the public spotlight for a long time. Action for Social Justice (ASP) submitted an initiative to the Constitutional Court three years ago to review the constitutionality of the provisions of the Law on Salaries in the Public Sector. In February 2022, the Center for Civic Education (CCE) submitted a proposal for measures to limit these benefits to the Parliament, and in December 2023, the same proposal was sent to the members of the new Parliamentary Committee on the Political System and Judiciary.
UNEXPECTED BENEFITS
By draft The proposed amendments to the Law on Amendments to the Law on Salaries of Public Sector Employees include shortening the period for payment of benefits from one year to three months, abolishing the possibility of extending this benefit if the official acquires the right to a pension during the period in which he acquired the right to the benefit, limiting the amount of the benefit to the average net salary in Montenegro, instead of the full last salary that the official received, as well as limiting the right to compensation if the position lasted less than three months, or if the official was dismissed or resigned, as well as if he behaved unethically or illegally.
Ines Mrdovic, executive director of the Action for Social Justice, believes that official compensation is devastating and one in a series of shameless benefits, which are enabled by privileged laws established during the DPS rule.
"It is even more devastating that, even five years after the fall of the DPS, the new authorities have done nothing to change this unacceptable privilege of officials, even though during their opposition status they promised citizens a fairer society. But it seems that everything else pales in comparison to the interest of filling their own pockets and that it does not occur to any authority to give up any privilege," said Mrdović.
In a society facing various types of economic challenges, such payments, Nikola Đurašević believes, further deepen the gap between the privileged official elite and citizens.
"The question also arises - on what basis are former officials guaranteed security in the form of several months of payments, while some other workers, after the expiration of their contracts or dismissal, are immediately left without income? A system that maintains such differences is not a system that works in the interests of citizens, but in the interests of a privileged minority. Also, it does not reflect a responsible attitude towards the budget.
LACK OF POLITICAL WILL
She believes that for the central and local levels, compensation should be regulated in a way that allows for a maximum of three months after the termination of their function in relation to the average salary in the body, institution or institution where they were employed, and not, as now, according to the salary they received in the last month before the termination of their function, and certainly not for a year. Who in the private sector would pay you for a year without you doing anything, Mrdović asks.
"It is true that the state level is most emphasized when it comes to so-called official compensation, but the local level is not without almost identical shortcomings. The fact that local officials are generally less in the public eye, as well as the fact that the fluctuations and amounts involved are smaller, does not diminish the problem that decision-makers have been avoiding solving for too long," Nikola Đurašević points out.
He believes that the Amendments to the Law on Salaries in the Public Sector should recognize the specificities of the local level, but not in a way that would allow for the retention of privileges, but quite the opposite - to limit or completely eliminate them.
"A fundamental reform in this area should aim to abolish these fees, because there is no compelling reason to keep them, especially when we compare Montenegro with other countries that have long since ceased to have them or have reduced them to strictly controlled exceptions. It is precisely through greater oversight and transparency in the work of local governments that it is possible to ensure that public money is not used to maintain privileged structures, but for the real needs of citizens," explains Đurašević.
Ines Mrdović, however, is not convinced that the government, despite the announcements of legal changes, will radically reform this area.
"I do not believe that there will be political will to resolve this issue in a socially just manner any time soon, because this is a classic functionary-party state where political interests override everything else," the director of this NGO is skeptical of the announced legal changes.
"Vijesti" obtained data on payments of official remuneration thanks to the MANS application "Ask the institutions".
It would be very interesting to have a cross-section of how much time, for example, those officials in the Capital spent in the position for which they later received the privilege of a year of paid leave, emphasizes Nikola Đurašević.
Compensation for “not satisfactory”
It is not enough to change only the Law on Salaries of Public Sector Employees, but also the Law on Civil Servants and Employees, points out Ines Mrdović.
"This Law contains an extremely controversial solution where a senior management person who receives an 'unsatisfactory' rating from the head of the body twice in a row also has the right to compensation. Let me remind you that the 'unsatisfactory' rating is legally defined as 'when a person has not demonstrated average abilities in work organization and management, nor average abilities in cooperation and communication with other bodies, i.e. employees, nor other abilities for the efficient implementation of work tasks'. The paradox is that a senior management person who is unsatisfactory in his work is rewarded with an official's compensation," emphasizes the director of the Action for Social Justice.
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