The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption will investigate whether there are elements of corrupt behavior in the relations between the management and the Board of Directors of the state-owned company "Montenegrin Electricity Market Operator" (COTEE), after the act appointing Mersudin Gredić as director and the proposal for a multiple increase in salaries for members of the management board were submitted to the Government of Montenegro for approval on the same day.
"The Agency monitors and acts ex officio in all cases of potential corrupt behavior. The Agency has registered this case and will initiate proceedings in accordance with its jurisdiction in the coming period. After the procedure is completed, the public will be informed of the outcome," the Agency's editorial office responded.
"Vijesti" announced yesterday that COTEE submitted to the competent Ministry of Energy and Mining on Tuesday the decision on the appointment of Gredić as director, as well as a document entitled "Compensation Policy for Work in the Board of Directors of the Montenegrin Electricity Market Operator Ltd.", according to which the president would Maksim Vucinic (former DF) should earn at least 2.200 euros in the future, and Djordjije Ostojic (PES) and Nermin Škretović (BS) more than 1.500 euros. According to the document, their compensation would be based on the average salary at COTEE, which is currently between 1.500 and 1.600 euros, and they would also be entitled to company cars or paid fuel for private, representation, official phones, etc.
"Vijesti" was unable to confirm yesterday whether the document was adopted at the Board of Directors meeting or signed by Gredić, the current acting director.
If the Government agrees with the proposal to increase the remuneration and benefits of the Board of Directors, it would have to be approved by the regulator - the Regulatory Agency for Energy and Regulated Utilities (REGAGEN).
The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption last winter ruled that the former members of the Board of Directors of REGAGEN violated the Law on the Prevention of Corruption because they voted for the regulations that allowed them to realize the variables every month...
"The current situation in Montenegro shows the extent to which institutions in the country are abused and rendered meaningless, and how much they are used for party purposes and personal interest," the director of BIRN Montenegro told Vijesti yesterday. Vuk Marash.
He also referred to the fact that the Board of Directors, on the orders of the Labor Inspectorate, dismissed Gredić this spring, because it was determined that he had been illegally appointed in 2023.
"Therefore, the fact that the former director was illegally appointed did not constitute any obstacle to his being nominated again, along party lines, as the new director. On the other hand, in order to buy social peace, for those who were supposed to vote for him, it was planned to increase the salaries of those who were supposed to vote for him by several times, and that for a contribution that was really at a modest level," Maraš emphasizes.
According to him, this is a way to keep everyone settled and satisfied.
"So that the representatives of all the parties sitting there, whether in the position of executive director or on the Board of Directors, would have huge incomes, from the property of the citizens of Montenegro and so that every party would be satisfied. This is completely contrary to everything that Montenegro talks about and supposedly advocates, which is professionalization and meritocracy. The Government of Montenegro, or rather the trade coalition in power, shows us with every move that they are exclusively and only interested in the seats, functions and money of all of us, and that of course no one even thinks about the public interest anymore," concluded Maraš.
"Vijesti" did not receive answers from Vučinić, nor from Admir Šahmanović's department, to questions related to the election of the executive director of COTEE, nor the "Compensation Policy for work in the Board of Directors" of that company...
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