A variable allowance of around 230 thousand euros was paid to employees of 15 ministries in the Government of Montenegro in the last five months of last year, the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) announced.
CDT Deputy Executive Director Milena Gvozdenović specified that this money was paid out in the period from the reconstruction of the Government in July 2024 until the end of that year.
She told the MINA agency that the variable allowance was mainly paid to civil servants, except in the ministries of justice, tourism, and human and minority rights.
She explained that these three ministries also paid variables to public officials in the amount of almost four thousand euros.
According to Gvozdenović, the Ministry of Finance did not provide the CDT with information on whether the variables were paid only to civil servants or also to public officials.
She said that the CDT requested data from the ministries on the amount of variable salary paid to civil servants and public officials, from July 24 to December 31 last year, as well as the number of civil servants and officials who were entitled to payment.
According to Gvozdenović, the Ministry of Finance paid the largest amount - 58.228 euros, but they did not specify how many civil servants, or public officials from that department, were rewarded with a variable amount.
"The Ministry of Economic Development paid 33.020 euros in variable pay to 121 out of a total of 182 civil servants and employees employed by the Ministry," said Gvozdenović.
The Ministry of Tourism, she added, paid out 23.960 euros in variable pay to 71 civil servants and employees, and one public official received a variable pay of 323,74 euros.
"Considering the number of employees in this ministry, it can be concluded that almost all of them were rewarded with a variable, that is, 71 out of 75 civil servants, and one out of four public officials," said Gvozdenović.
She stated that a third of employees at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, 74 of them, received a variable salary of 23.356 euros.
"The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property has awarded 60 out of a total of 157 civil servants and employees with a variable salary in the total amount of 22.970 euros," said Gvozdenović.
She said that the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI) paid 20.537 euros in variable costs.
Gvozdenović specified that for the third quarter, a total of 21 euros was paid to 5.586 employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and for the fourth quarter, 48 euros were paid to 14.951 employees.
The Ministry of Defense, she added, paid the variable salary for 58 civil servants and employees of that ministry and persons serving in the Army of Montenegro in the total amount of 19,851 euros.
Gvozdenović said that the Ministry of European Affairs paid a variable amount of 24 euros to slightly more than a third of its employees, or 7.631. "The Ministry of Justice paid an amount of 6.024 euros as a variable for 19 employees, and an additional 2.266 euros was paid to seven public officials," Gvozdenović added.
She said that the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development paid 5.096 euros in variable pay to 16 employees.
Gvozdenović stated that the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue paid 4.905 euros to a quarter of employees, or 22 civil servants.
As she added, the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights paid out 4.610 euros to its employees and 1.294 euros to officials.
"The ministry's response stated that six civil servants and four public officials received a variable part of their salary in September, followed by nine civil servants in December," said Gvozdenović.
She stated that the Ministry of Transport paid out 3.798 euros as a variable part of the salary for one-fifth, or 12 employees.
"The Ministry of Energy paid a variable amount of 1.113 euros to five employees," added Gvozdenović.
Gvozdenović said that the Ministry of Regional Investment Development and Cooperation with NGOs paid 1.905 euros in variable pay to six employees in five months.
She said that the CDTs of the ministries of mining, oil and gas, diaspora, internal affairs, social welfare, family care and demography, foreign affairs and maritime affairs informed that they had not paid out variables during the aforementioned period.
Gvozdenović reminded that according to the decision on the variable part of the salary, the variable can be achieved by an employee who achieves "exceptional results and quality of work".
"Furthermore, it is stated that this is appreciated based on a special contribution to improving the work process of the body, exceptional success and quality of work performed, special efficiency in work, increased workload and additional engagement due to unfilled positions," added Gvozdenović.
It is defined, as she said, that the variable part of the employee's salary can be paid once every three months at the end of the quarter in the amount of up to 30 percent of the average net salary.
"While an employee for "work in the public interest" can be paid on a monthly basis in the amount of up to 50% of the average net salary, with the consent of the Government," said Gvozdeović.
Gvozdenović stated that without a clearly defined procedure and criteria, there is a risk that the variable part of the salary goes to the privileged, and not necessarily to the most valuable and deserving.
According to her, "special contribution", "exceptional success", "special efficiency" are very subjective categories and leave room for pro-life interpretation.
"The question is who and how in the ministries accurately evaluates the work of employees, because there is no prescribed evaluation procedure and it is unclear to what extent direct managers are actually involved in these decisions," Gvozdenović pointed out.
They therefore believe that such a decision may be susceptible to abuse, which, they add, undermines its basic goal — stimulating and rewarding truly exceptional work and contributions from employees.
"It is important to improve the decision, so that the reward system is transparent and fair, with a clearly defined evaluation method and objective criteria," said Gvozdenović.
She stated that the Law on Free Access to Information (FOI) was violated by the General Secretariat of the Government and the Ministry of Health, who failed to provide answers within the legal deadline of 15 days.
"It is also interesting that the Ministries of Culture and Media, Sports and Youth, and Public Administration interpret the STI Law differently from their colleagues in the 21 ministries that provided us with information, so unlike them, they decided to reject our request for the reason of "compiling new information"," Gvozdenović pointed out.
According to Gvozdenović, such an attitude of the aforementioned authorities further testifies to the need to improve supervision over the implementation of the STI Law.
"The law and the principles of transparency should require that such information be proactively published on the websites of ministries," believes Gvozdenović.
She told state authorities that without transparency, there is no responsible and quality public administration.
"And we call on them to make such data publicly available on their websites in the future and thus demonstrate an open and transparent attitude towards spending public funds," said Gvozdenović.
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