The Center for Civic Education (CCE) announced today that it has submitted an official initiative to the Ministry of Finance, namely the Budget Inspection, to urgently and comprehensively audit the financial operations of Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG).
The non-governmental organization (NGO) said it once again expressed serious concerns about the way the controversial leadership of RTCG manages this institution of public interest, especially in terms of financial operations.
"In addition to the already known examples of violations of professional and ethical standards, the increasingly pronounced practice of arbitrariness in spending public funds is now additionally worrying," the CCE statement, signed by Nikola Obradović, states. program associate.
CCE added that RTCG is predominantly financed from the state budget, that is, with the money of all citizens of Montenegro.
"In such circumstances, any doubt about the legality and transparency of work must be the subject of an urgent institutional response. Additionally, RTCG increasingly appears as a negative point in the reports of European Union institutions, and the current Council of this house remains under serious accusations, including the multiple illegal election of Boris Raonić as Director General," the CCE statement reads.
They said that this week's public statement by the former vice president of the RTCG Council, Marijana Camović Velicković, raised new questions about the (il)legality and lack of transparency in the financial management of the Public Service Broadcasting Service RTCG, saying that this particularly applies to data indicating the arbitrary and illegal determination of the salaries of the general director and his assistants, the continuous payment of maximum variable bonuses without clear criteria and performance evaluations, as well as the making of decisions that further burden the RTCG budget, including proposals for new coefficient increases.
"Because of all of the above, CCE has submitted an official initiative to the Ministry of Finance, namely the Budget Inspection, to urgently and comprehensively audit the financial operations of RTCG, which annually disposes of over 20 million euros, primarily from the state budget. The subject of the audit should include payments, the internal methodology for calculating variable salaries, as well as possible attempts to conceal illegalities through formal acts of management that are already pushing the boundaries of arbitrariness. Camović Velicković has pointed out these and other irregularities internally and publicly, leading a difficult fight to preserve the legality and professionalism of RTCG. Her experience clearly shows that stronger reactions from the competent state institutions are necessary," said CCE.
They said that they expect the Budget Inspection to demonstrate agility and responsibility, and that the results of the control be publicly available and followed up with concrete institutional measures, if irregularities are confirmed.
"We also call on the Parliament of Montenegro to proactively raise this issue through its competent committees and show that the control function of the Parliament has not been forgotten in our political system. CCE is of the opinion that the citizens of Montenegro have the right to a service that works in their interests, and not in the interests of privileged individuals or groups," CCE said.
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