The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property attempted, during a government session about fifteen days ago, to obtain approval for the transfer of ownership of a state-owned facility to the Municipality of Pljevlja, so that the only verbally announced private university in that city would receive space to work.
The founders of the institution, it was confirmed to "Vijesti", have not yet submitted a single document to obtain the necessary permits for operation, but this has not prevented the department Slaven Radunović to try to provide them with space.
Several editorial sources claim that the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation Anđela Jakšić-Stojanović At the Government session on March 21, she strongly opposed the proposal to include that item on the agenda.
According to the same information, Jakšić-Stojanović warned the representative of the Ministry of Urban Planning and State Property that the institution, whose establishment was announced in October last year, Vojo Laković, that the procedures stipulated by law for the establishment of a university must be fulfilled, after which it was decided that the delegated proposal would not be on the agenda of that session.
The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property has not responded to "Vijesti's" questions since March 26 about what exactly the area is, where it is located. They have also not answered how and why the department had such a proposal, given the fact that it is only a plan for the establishment of a private institution in Pljevlja, while its founders are still collecting documentation in order to obtain accreditation and permits for work from the competent Ministry.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation did not respond to questions either.
The answer, however, came from the Agency for Quality Control and Assurance in Higher Education - the announced institution has not submitted a single piece of paper to them so far.
"Regarding your letter of March 27, 2025, in which you request answers from the Agency for Quality Control and Assurance of Higher Education on whether the founders, as they announced in the media, have so far submitted the documentation for obtaining initial accreditation for the University of Pljevlja and, if so, whether the Agency has made a decision - whether they meet the criteria, we inform you that the aforementioned institution has not submitted the documentation for starting the accreditation procedure," the Agency, headed by Tatjana Ćalasan.
Laković signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Mayor of Pljevlja in October. Dario Vraneš, when it was announced that the future institution would be a private-public partnership.
The Memorandum of Cooperation, as reported by the media at the time, stipulates that the Municipality of Pljevlja will provide space for the university to operate, and everything else falls under the obligations of the institution's founder.
There were multiple locations in circulation back then…
According to the Law on Higher Education, the establishment of an institution must be preceded by a legal procedure.
"An institution may be established and operate if it has a certificate of accreditation of the study program; appropriate premises are provided, owned or leased (classrooms, laboratories, library, rooms for extracurricular activities of students), teaching aids, equipment and other means necessary for carrying out the activity; conditions and unhindered access for persons with disabilities are provided; academic staff are provided who have been elected to an academic title according to the regulations of Montenegro, of which at least three are teachers for undergraduate studies, or two teachers for master's studies, with an academic title, who are employed full-time...", the Law states.
The institution must also have secured one half of the total number of associates required for teaching each study subject in each study year, and must also have concluded an employment contract with them.
“…Financial resources for the establishment and performance of activities are provided, hygienic and technical conditions are provided, in accordance with special regulations,” the Law specifies.
As previously announced, the opening of a faculty of engineering management, a faculty of diplomacy and security, psychology, a faculty of arts, and a faculty of health sciences is planned within the institution in Pljevlja.
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